Some users and designers are already panning Apple’s new user interface dubbed Liquid Glass, even though it’s a bit early. There are reasons to think it might improve — but also valid critiques.
While arguably the operating system design overhaul looks unfinished in many parts — notifications are too hard to read, and then there’s that monstrosity of the Control Center overlay — what Apple has shipped so far is the first developer beta, not a final release. There’s still time for many of the design systems’ current problems to be refined and corrected by the time Apple launches iOS 26 and its other OS updates to the public later this fall.
The dramatic refresh to the iPhone’s look and feel was announced at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference and described by Apple as its “broadest design update ever.” Liquid Glass, the company explained, would span across Apple’s platforms, unifying the experience of using Apple devices.
Inspired by Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset, Liquid Glass is so named because it leverages the optical quality of glass in its elements — it refracts light and features translucent materials. The update also modernizes the operating system’s interface in a way that seems obviously poised to later extend to other devices, like AR glasses.
However, there are parts of the interface where various elements are simply too hard to read — and not only for low-vision users (or the middle-aged). Even Apple’s press release includes a photo of the Apple Music user interface, where it’s difficult to make out the artist’s name in its light gray font on a translucent bar. That’s concerning because this is a photo Apple approved, which seemingly would indicate that this part of the OS update, at least, is finished.
Other users are sharing similar concerns about the legibility of reading through their notifications on the iPhone’s Lock Screen, where, depending on the colors of your background wallpaper, the text becomes either easier or harder to read as you scroll.
This issue can even be observed in the footage of Apple’s WWDC keynote address, where glassy notifications seem to require a bit of squinting to parse.
As developers and other curious tech enthusiasts began testing the initial beta, they realized the problem with reading notifications was even worse when the iPhone’s wallpaper was brighter, with lighter colors. Here, the white text nearly fades away into the background in parts. Maybe Apple is helping us wean ourselves off our screen time addictions?
The iOS 26 Control Center is also almost unusable in the first developer beta, as there’s little background blur to hide the Home Screen’s icons and widgets behind the Center’s various controls, buttons, and sliders. Surely Apple designers don’t think this is the final product? Why didn’t they at least increase the background blur before shipping?
This is unfinished work that needs more than a slight adjustment.
There’s room to criticize other choices, too, like Home Screen animations that miss the mark — but these are likely unfinished. Or so we’d hope.
Despite its initial flaws, there are signs that the updated design system will receive more attention to detail over time, even if that’s not as obvious in this first release due to its more glaring issues.
For starters, Apple’s icons look beautiful in their new glassy style (not designed by a marketing committee this time), and some of the effects involving morphing buttons are impressive. Moving Liquid Glass overlays over the Home Screen blurs and stretches icons in the background as if an actual piece of glass were being pulled over top.
There are other subtle touches that make the design’s elements feel like glass, like the way the “Customize” button reflects the colors of the different wallpapers above it as you scroll through them while personalizing your Home Screen. The feature may still need to be refined, but it’s an example that demonstrates Liquid Glass was not some sort of rush job on Apple’s part.
Even Apple’s competitors have taken notice.
“Liquid Glass … I kinda love it?” posted Nothing CEO Carl Pei on X, who recently theorized that the future of smartphones will involve interacting with AI through the operating system itself, not necessarily through running apps.
Liquid Glass seems better positioned for such a world, where the interfaces of the apps become the focus as their icons fade away into the background — even, optionally, becoming clear glass.
Of course, there are concerns that Apple won’t be able to balance the iPhone’s battery usage that its new eye-candy demands — especially on older devices — but we won’t know if that’s true until the company ships a final version of iOS.
Apple, however, tried to appease users’ anxiety on this front by explaining during its WWDC keynote address that the advances it made in its hardware, silicon, and graphics technologies have paved the way for this type of user interface.
Plus, Apple already offers a way to toggle off some of its more power-hungry effects and motions to save on battery life, and that will likely be true for Liquid Glass as well.
It’s also worth remembering that Apple’s last major overhaul of its mobile operating system, iOS 7, was similarly unrefined upon its first release. The initial beta featured unreadable UI elements and thin lines and fonts that led to some criticism about usability and form over function. Over time, that design was improved, and now it’s thought of as just how the iPhone’s software looks — if it’s thought of at all.
The same will likely hold true for Liquid Glass … eventually.
