| Liquid Glass | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Apple Inc. |
| Initial release | June 9, 2025; 5 months ago (2025-06-09) |
| Operating system | iOS,iPadOS,macOS,tvOS,visionOS,watchOS |
| Predecessor |
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| Type | Design language |
| Website | developer |
Liquid Glass is adesign language developed byApple as a unified visual theme for thegraphical user interfaces for its suite ofoperating systems. It was first announced on June 9, 2025, at theWorldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Liquid Glass features a fluid, dynamic glass-like interface that reflects and refracts the background. Liquid Glass was Introduced iniOS 26,iPadOS 26,macOS Tahoe,tvOS 26,visionOS 26, andwatchOS 26.[1]
Apple sought a new design language to unify the look and feel of interface elements across its devices, with their various window sizes and displays.[2][3]
It describes Liquid Glass as a dynamic "material" that combines the "optical properties of glass with a sense of fluidity".[4] According to Apple's updatedhuman interface guidelines, apps made with Liquid Glass should showcase hierarchy between content and controls.[5] The design features elements that automatically adapt to their environment by reflecting andrefracting light. The digital elements are translucent, contrasting with the outer highlights of their shapes.[6][7]
Apple's senior vice president of software engineering,Craig Federighi, said designers used the company's industrial design studios to fabricate glass of variousopacities and lensing properties, so they could closely match the interface properties to those of real glass.[7]
Liquid Glass overhauls existing iOS interface components such as text, sliders,toggles,alerts, panels,sidebars, and the overallfrosted glass design, by introducing a new "material", which in Apple parlance is a visual effect that provides a sense of depth and hierarchy between elements.[8][9] The new material introduced by Liquid Glass refracts and reflects any element placed behind it, using realistic lighting and shaders to look like a real piece of glass. The material adapts to a light or dark appearance to make text and icon on top of the material legible, and reacts to the device's movement on iOS and iPadOS.[10] The material is integrated into various apps, and the system as a whole, such as the Dock, notifications, and Control Center and can also be used by third-party apps.[9][11] Federighi saidApple silicon provides the extra computational power required to run Liquid Glass.[12][13]
App icons have been redesigned to use a layered system akin to the one used on visionOS and tvOS, applying translucency and a glass-like shimmer effect, which also reacts to device movement, while applying greater use of gradients. App icons can now adopt a new clear look that makes the background use the Liquid Glass material in a light or dark tint, making it appear transparent.[14] Toolbars and other elements on-screen are now no-longer pinned to the device's bezels, instead being separated into bubbles that appear and disappear based on the context. For example, theMusic app's tab bar shrinks when scrolling. The new design also allows the material to change its shape and size, such as the text selection tooltip expanding to show all options in a vertical list.[15] In a video detailing the design change, Apple stated that the language was influenced by theAqua design language ofmacOS, real-timeGaussian blurring iniOS 7, the motion iniPhone X, theDynamic Island on theiPhone 14 Pro and later, and the glass-like UI ofvisionOS.[6][7]
Liquid Glass has had a mixed reception. Some users praised the aesthetics of the operating systems designed with the language[16] and were impressed by the effects to recreate glass's refracting and lensing properties.[17][18] However, other users noted that certain elements were too transparent, making text difficult to read in low-contrast environments, such as direct sunlight.[16][19] Designers interviewed byWired felt that the visual effects distracted from app content.[17] One designer said developers with smaller teams might struggle to meet the high visual standards set by the new interface.[17]
The design marked a shift in Apple's design languages, moving away from some of theflat design cues popularized byJony Ive iniOS 7 (2013) toward more expressive,skeuomorphic elements.[17][20] Many critics and social media users noted similarities toAqua andWindows Aero, including glass-like textures popularized byWindows Vista.[18][21][22] Liquid Glass has strong influences from "glassmorphism", a design style that became popular in 2021 in part byMicrosoft'sWindows 11 and its use ofFluent Design as well as Apple's ownmacOS Big Sur.[23][24]
Complaints about legibility during the first developer beta release led Apple to adjust the transparency of Liquid Glass.[25][26] Reviewers noted that Developer Beta 3 made navigation bars and interface chrome more opaque for contrast, and subsequent betas refined the material further, including adjustments to system overlays and modal backgrounds. Some later builds introduced additional controls to moderate transparency levels, giving users more flexibility over legibility in differing lighting conditions.[27]
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