The major redesign introduced by Apple for all its OSes — iOS, macOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS — as a form of unification. First announced in WWDC 2025 with the release of OS 26.
As the name suggests, Liquid Glass attempts to reproduce similar effects to the refraction of light on a glass surface — particularly capturing the way light bends near edges and the behaviour of light through a glass object. Liquid Glass also embraces rounded corners as a form of unifying hardware and software.
Personal thoughts
I’m slightly concerned about accessibility when it comes to implementing Liquid Glass. From initial snapshots on Apple’s website:
Liquid Glass attempts to mimic glass surfaces, meaning that it remains some translucency in the middle. This begs the question about visibility, as seen in the picture; not all elements of the content within the glass surface is entirely visible because it blends with the background. It’s likely that future updates might need to play around with the translucency of the surface.
At the same time, I appreciate the little things there are in the material — the way the light shines through the edges, making the shape subtly visible and the new bouncy animations (reminiscent of Material 3 Expressive) gives it a more personal vibe.
I realise that my opinion might be getting swayed from what I’m seeing on social media (especially through X), but I think that many of those people haven’t considered that today’s release is the first of many developer betas. There’s still a lot of opportunities for change and refinement in the coming months up till the final release, so it’s unfair for some to give heavy criticism due to technical glitches at this time.