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Three More Apple Apps Just Got Liquid Glass Updates

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple today updated three more of its apps for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe, introducing new Liquid Glass-compatible icons for GarageBand, Photomator, and Pixelmator Pro across its platforms.

garageband.jpg

GarageBand for iPhone and iPad has an overhauled icon featuring a realistic-looking guitar instead of the silhouetted neon guitar icon that Apple previously used. Apple uses this same icon for the Mac, but curiously, the GarageBand for Mac app hasn't been updated yet.

We first saw the new GarageBand icon on Apple's iPhone tech spec pages after the September iPhone event, and now it has rolled out. Apple is also planning new Liquid Glass icons for iMovie, the App Store, Keynote, Numbers, and Pages, but these apps haven't had icon updates yet.

Apple bought Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator in November 2024, and some of those apps were also updated today. Photomator for Mac, iPhone, and iPad got an update with a new icon. The icon actually looks the same on iPhone and iPad, but on Mac, it no longer has the unappealing border design in macOS Tahoe.

Pixelmator Pro for Mac was updated as well, and while it has the same general icon design, it also no longer has the awkward squircle border around it.

With macOS Tahoe, Apple made updates to icon design requirements. App icons that don't comply with the updated size and design rules are displayed with a translucent gray border around them until developers provide updated artwork.

Article Link: Three More Apple Apps Just Got Liquid Glass Updates
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/03/garageband-liquid-glass-update/
  • Sad
Reactions: sos47
Neither Photomator or Pixelmator Pro got a dark mode Tahoe icon, and their UIs are completely untouched.

Apple is really, really annoying me recently with its failure to implement its own UI conventions consistently and promptly. It's such a fall from grace from a company that used to have such a high attention to detail and standards, and was famed for its software.

Just unforgivable for a company with its resources.
 
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Reactions: sledgehammer89, MacHeritage, gusmula and 16 others
Joseph C said:
Neither Photomator or Pixelmator Pro got a dark mode Tahoe icon, and their UIs are completely untouched.

Apple is really, really annoying me recently with its failure to implement its own UI conventions consistently and promptly. It's such a fall from grace from a company that used to have such a high attention to detail and standards, and was famed for its software.

Just unforgivable for a company with its resources.
Click to expand...
I'm aware it's a first world problem, but I have Pixelmator Pro on my Dock and I'm having to keep my Mac on the "Default" apps so it blends in, when everything else (other than Pages, which I'm STILL waiting to be updated, c'mon Apple) can go into Clear.
 
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Reactions: Joseph C
Joseph C said:
Neither Photomator or Pixelmator Pro got a dark mode Tahoe icon, and their UIs are completely untouched.

Apple is really, really annoying me recently with its failure to implement its own UI conventions consistently and promptly. It's such a fall from grace from a company that used to have such a high attention to detail and standards, and was famed for its software.

Just unforgivable for a company with its resources.
Click to expand...
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote have seen no notable Liquid Glass UI updates either, last I checked.
 
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Reactions: Joseph C
bradman83 said:
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote have seen no notable Liquid Glass UI updates either, last I checked.
Click to expand...
None of the iWork apps have been updated in 6 months now. Just all such an own goal from Apple. It’s almost like they’ve done it on purpose for some reason.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: gusmula
Joseph C said:
Neither Photomator or Pixelmator Pro got a dark mode Tahoe icon, and their UIs are completely untouched.

Apple is really, really annoying me recently with its failure to implement its own UI conventions consistently and promptly. It's such a fall from grace from a company that used to have such a high attention to detail and standards, and was famed for its software.

Just unforgivable for a company with its resources.
Click to expand...
Problem is… nowadays Apple and the App Store especially is being bullied and targeted by certain regimes and predatory companies like Epic Games so if Apple takes a 2008-2010 approach to App Store standards like when Steve Jobs was pressed over approving apps in the D conference, they’d only get further persecuted for it.

I also wish they’d do a better job forcing developers to adopt proper use of new iPad OS features too
 
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Reactions: LukeDa
For example, Keka and Infuse have dark icons and Liquid Glass on Mac, but nothing for iWork? Quite embarrassing for Apple.
 
pbau said:
Amazing, 3 Trillion $ company. Updating icons months after updates. Going the microsoft road i see
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I was going to say it took them more than a decade to fix Safari bookmark sync, then I remembered that I made some changes last week in my Safari bookmarks and the sync was still broken and all over the place.

There were a few other bugs I was tracking that took Apple a decade to fix. Those were really fixed though.

So this is absolutely normal behavior for Apple.
 
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Reactions: TomaxXamot and tomrt
carswell said:
Please just don't force them on us users who are sticking with iOS 18 because of Liquid Glass.

I've already deleted Apple Support because they glassed the iOS 18 icon. Guess I won't bother updating these apps at all.
Click to expand...

I find it to be inexcusable (and maybe even lazy) to be forcing a clearly iOS 26 icon onto a user running iOS18.

It's not like they can't distinguish that on the App side and serve a proper (and already existing!) icon for iOS18 or older users.
 
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