Apple’s ambitious redesign of its operating systems, dubbed “Liquid Glass,” has already sparked significant debate among users and designers, despite still being in its earliest developer beta stage. Revealed at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Liquid Glass represents Apple’s most comprehensive visual overhaul to date, designed to harmonize the user experience across all Apple devices.
Modeled on the optical qualities of actual glass, Liquid Glass incorporates translucent effects and refractive elements heavily inspired by Apple’s earlier innovations in virtual reality, particularly the Vision Pro VR headset. Its distinct aesthetic clearly sets the stage for integration into future augmented reality devices, potentially preparing Apple for deeper AR applications.
However, early feedback from beta testers highlights numerous concerns regarding the usability of the redesigned interfaces, particularly around text readability. Notifications on the lock screen, for example, become difficult to read against certain wallpapers, with lighter backgrounds causing notification text to fade significantly. Apple’s own promotional materials for Liquid Glass show the Apple Music interface using pale gray text set against a translucent bar, raising questions about legibility—an area Apple seemingly views as finalized.
Issues extend further into the revamped Control Center which, due to an inadequate blur effect on its background, fails to adequately mask the Home Screen icons and widgets beneath. Responses online describe the resulting appearance as “unfinished” and “almost unusable,” clearly suggesting these aspects of the new user experience still need considerable refinement.
Despite these early criticisms, there are also clear signs of promise. The new iconography introduced with Liquid Glass has been warmly received, praised for its sophisticated and visually appealing style. Animations and interactive elements, such as morphing buttons and dynamically stretching icons beneath glass-like overlays, demonstrate impressive attention to detail and design ingenuity. Additionally, subtle effects—like the interactive customization options where interface colors shift as users swipe through different wallpapers—highlight careful craftsmanship rather than a hurried launch.
Industry executives have begun weighing in as well, with Nothing CEO Carl Pei publicly expressing his support for Apple’s new direction, suggesting that Liquid Glass may position iOS well for future interfaces dominated by AI-driven interactions rather than traditional apps. That vision aligns strategically with evolving user behaviors and industry expectations.
Naturally, users are also cautious about potential performance impacts, particularly battery consumption from the intensive graphical demands Liquid Glass may require—especially on older Apple hardware. Addressing such concerns, Apple referenced recent advancements in hardware, silicon, and graphics technologies that should complement and support these new interface features effectively. Additionally, Apple historically provides settings for users to reduce motion graphics and visual-intensive features when battery saving is critical, which would presumably be applicable to the new design aesthetics.
Experienced Apple observers recall that iOS 7, the company’s previous significant UI update, also debuted with initial backlash and usability concerns. At the time, critics pointed out thin fonts and muted contrasts that hampered readability, all of which were gradually refined over subsequent releases. Today, the visual changes first introduced by iOS 7 now appear stable and commonplace. A similar gradual refinement is expected with Liquid Glass, meaning users should anticipate further iterations improving clarity, usability, and consistency as Apple prepares the final public releases of iOS 26 and its other OS updates this fall.
