Apple’s new design language is Liquid Glass

Liquid Glass is coming to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, and more.

Apple is introducing a new Liquid Glass design across its software platforms today. It’s all about adding transparency and glass shine effects to Apple’s in-app interfaces across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26.

“[It’s] our broadest design update, ever,” says Alan Dye, Apple’s VP of human interface. “For the first time we’re introducing a universal design across our platforms.” The new design adds glass-like elements throughout iOS, including to the dock and the lockscreen, and it’s designed to mimic the optical qualities of glass.

A lot of glass-like effects and animations are coming to iOS 26.

Image: Apple

Liquid Glass is inspired by Apple’s visionOS software, and can adapt to light and dark environments. When you swipe up on the iOS 26 lock screen there’s a glass edge, and elements throughout the OS have glass edges to them. Even the camera app has the glass feel, with menus that are transparent and features that overlay on top of the camera feed.

Liquid Glass uses real-time rendering and will dynamically reacts to movement. Apple is using it on buttons, switches, sliders, text, media controls, and even lager surfaces like tab bars and sidebars. Apple has redesigned its controls, toolbars, and navigation within apps to fit this new Liquid Glass design.

macOS Tahoe 26 has lots of Liquid Glass elements, too.

Image: Apple

Apps like Camera, Photos, Safari, FaceTime, Apple Music, Apple News, and Apple Podcasts have all been updated for Liquid Glass. Apple is also using Liquid Glass in macOS Tahoe 26, with the dock, sidebars, and toolbars all getting a touch of the glass design. The menu bar is also now completely transparent in macOS Tahoe 26, a change that’s designed to make display feels bigger.

Apple is publishing an updated set of APIs to allow developers to start updating their apps, ahead of this new design update that’s launching later this year.

Apple’s shift away from skeuomorphism in iOS 7 in 2013 has left its mobile OS looking very similar for more than 10 years, with the iOS 7 design style still influencing the most recent versions of iOS. Liquid Glass looks a lot different, and it’s going to force app developers to really adjust their apps in the coming months.

Apple has used glass themes in the past, most notably with the introduction of Aqua, which first appeared in iMovie 2 in 2000 before rolling out more broadly in Mac OS X 10.0 in 2001. macOS 11 Big Sur also introduced a big redesign to the macOS UI, with more rounded corners, greater use of transparent and translucent layers, and a slew of new icons.

Microsoft has also been using transparency effects in its Windows operating system since it launched Windows Vista in 2007, complete with its own Aero Glass theme. The current version of Windows 11 now uses Microsoft’s Fluent Design language, which increasingly has more of a focus on 3D, colorful, and playful elements.

Developing… you can follow our WWDC 2025 live blog for all the latest news.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years.

News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377

RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend