Apple has revealed its largest software design update in over a decade, based around an intuitive design language it calls Liquid Glass.
During its WWDC conference Apple introduced the new Liquid Glass design, which it says will bring consistency across the platforms that are now named by year rather than major version number (iOS 26, watchOS 26, etc.).
Apple’s calling its Liquid Glass experience the biggest design overhaul since iOS 7. It behaves like glass in the real world with layers of see-through icons, menus, playback controls, the dock, the control centre. Notification bubbles appear like real pieces of layered glass with rounded edges.
Inspired by the visionOS software powering Apple Vision Pro, Liquid Glass will be apparent in the smallest details of the operating system. Swiping up from the lock screen, for example, actually looks like a piece of rounded glass like you’re lifting a layer of the display. It looks great.
You’ll be able to set your home screen icons to a translucent Liquid Glass design that ensures the wallpaper is fully visible behind them. All of the elements respond to your touch too. It looks to be really lifelike.
Menu items are more fluid meaning elements of the Liquid Glass design will appear and then recede when you don’t need them. For example, the Safari URL bar will all but disappear and will be completely see through so you see more of the content. The way you interact with the display matters too. When you scroll back up a webpage, the full tab bar will reappear.
“Controls are crafted out of Liquid Glass and act as a distinct functional layer that sits above apps,” Apple says in a media release. “They give way to content and dynamically morph as users need more options or move between different parts of an app.”
Universal design
Liquid Glass will be available across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS, and CarPlay. Apple says users will also see the design elements reflected beyond the Home Screen in apps like Camera, Photos, Safari, FaceTime, Apple Music, Apple News, and Apple Podcasts.
Apple says: “The new material, Liquid Glass, is translucent and behaves like glass in the real world. Its colour is informed by surrounding content and intelligently adapts between light and dark environments.
“Liquid Glass uses real-time rendering and dynamically reacts to movement with specular highlights. This creates a lively experience that makes using iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV even more delightful.”
Elsewhere, Apple is tweaking the design of the FaceTime app so the call controls fade into the background when you don’t need them, is adding Spatial Photos to the Lock Screen wallpaper.
Opinion
Apple’s Liquid Glass overhaul is very visually pleasing and will have a ton of benefits throughout the operating system. However, it’s very much a visual enhancement rather than a user interface change.
It looks very pretty but its not going to fundamentally change how we use the iPhone.
