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Do you like Liquid Glass on Mac?

  • Yes

  • Meh…

  • No


Results are only viewable after voting.
UI wise? None. We are nearing the release date, chances of the major changes are slim to none.
F7299FAD-07F9-43FF-95BB-0FB1E4C79B38.png
 
I like the glass effects. I actually wish there was more glass-like distortion throughout the UI (glass scroll bars, stop-light buttons, and so on) but the placement and z-axis of major UI elements looks bad in my opinion. I don't understand what the analogy is supposed to be for sidebar elements that float over a blank white space, or lists that fade away when scrolling down (shouldn't the list go under the title bar?).

Overall the UI technology is great and I love the animations and glass-like reflections and distortions in iOS, but the adaptation to MacOS is very like going from a Chocolate Banana Split to Vanilla frozen yogourt. The lack of contrast between sidebars or a discrete top bar makes it very difficult to mentally map out where the the window stops and the content begins, and where to grab windows to move them.
 
What Liquid Glass reminds me of...


the future was so bright that it just couldn't be contained. That, and you had stuff happening, so if felt like — just off camera — there was something great! And there was this energy in this room! And it gave it this sort-of signature. And I overdid it. And then I went further.

We had flashlights off camera, these insane high powered flashlights. And we'd do the thing. Every director of photography is like, 'don't do that.' We aimed it right in the lens. And the lens would have a layer of coating on it to not flair, and we wouldn't use it. We got lenses that had no coating.
 
Apple needs help.
I'm sure some people will love this

 
Largely on the fence but the extreme legibility issues push me into really disliking it. This is like UX/UI 101 stuff here,
and these legibility issues are happening on default options.

I generally don’t like posting negative opinions on the internet, but I have to agree with you here, I have submitted bug reports to Apple for much of the ghastliness which I encounter because I am convinced that what I’m seeing are bugs, incorrect operation, visual glitches or rendering issues.

Sadly, as of dev beta 8 nothing much seems to have changed and this is really starting to concern me now, and my dislike for liquid glass on macOS Tahoe is growing exponentially. Some of the design is absolutely hideous and just utterly non-sensical; for example - why do the glass panels in side bars inherit and change color based on background windows / desktop wallpaper etc, when the glass panel already sits atop a solid colored side panel of the currently focussed window!?? (Perhaps just a rendering issue in the various VM’s I've run Tahoe in as the vomit colored, highly distracting sidebar panel doesn’t seem to get captured in screenshots taken on the VM itself, though it does in screen recordings).

I’m not going to post the various screenshots and recordings I've taken of these issues. As Tahoe is still in beta I don’t feel it’s fair to be overly critical and fling sh** (yet), but at this point I feel like i’m just building a war-chest of macOS Tahoe, liquid glass design ‘ick’.

I'm praying these issues will be addressed before full release as there can be no way on earth that what I’m seeing is intended design - If it is, then this is going to be an extraordinarily rocky release for Apple, IMHO. 😳

/negativity
 
I have it running on my secondary MacBook Pro so as not to disturb my main work focused 16” M2 MacBook Pro. Taking a wait and see approach, as initial impression leaves a lot to be desired.

While it's no surprise, it is disappointing that it seems designed to appeal to the easily amused. Yet this company has a long history of somewhat gimmicky UI elements and colors to attract adolescents, making them customers for life. A very successful strategy.
 
I'm sure some people will love this


I can’t believe you posted this whilst I was also referring to a similar issue in my post directly after yours. Though I have to say, even the example in your post isn't as bad as it gets, its gets WAY WAAAAY worse.

In that link - At least that side panel is a frosty glass overlay panel, which means it makes sense for all the fugly to show through, however hideous. BUT - The same issue happens in Finder, where the glass panel sits atop a solid-color panel of the same window….yet crap still glows through from the desktop and / or various other windows behind the one in focus. It literally makes zero sense! The layering (the z?) is totally borked in macOS. You can put a solid black terminal window directly behind a Finder window, and the Finder sidebar will still light up with colors from any other random layer behind it 🤮

/reallyEndNegativity
 
I'm convinced that age and length of experience with Mac is a factor here.

I know of nobody (ages 40-65) that likes this design direction for the Mac specifically.
Thought I'd say hi 👋 I just happen to be in that age group, been using a Mac since the mid90's (Performa 5400) and I like the design direction that we are currently on. As for the current OS's, as we don't have a GM release yet, I'll wait for that, instead of speculating that the world is falling down around me, and that life can't go on like this. 🥹
 
Thought I'd say hi 👋 I just happen to be in that age group, been using a Mac since the mid90's (Performa 5400) and I like the design direction that we are currently on. As for the current OS's, as we don't have a GM release yet, I'll wait for that, instead of speculating that the world is falling down around me, and that life can't go on like this. 🥹

Hi, thanks for chiming in!

Hope it’s better than I’m hearing from so many long time Mac devs.
You gotta read this piece from Brent that I linked in a different thread. (Below) 😞

🙏


From Brent Simmons

And so I seriously dislike the experience of using a Mac with Liquid Glass. The UI has become the star, but the drunken star, blurry, illegible, and physically unstable. It makes making things way more of a struggle than it used to be.

 
I can’t believe you posted this whilst I was also referring to a similar issue in my post directly after yours. Though I have to say, even the example in your post isn't as bad as it gets, its gets WAY WAAAAY worse.

In that link - At least that side panel is a frosty glass overlay panel, which means it makes sense for all the fugly to show through, however hideous. BUT - The same issue happens in Finder, where the glass panel sits atop a solid-color panel of the same window….yet crap still glows through from the desktop and / or various other windows behind the one in focus. It literally makes zero sense! The layering (the z?) is totally borked in macOS. You can put a solid black terminal window directly behind a Finder window, and the Finder sidebar will still light up with colors from any other random layer behind it 🤮

/reallyEndNegativity
Yup, to be fair, I don't really notice this much - seems similar to tinted windows, which have existed for a while: Does the particular effect make any sense? Not that I can see. But at least it's subtle enough that it doesn't cause a lot of harm.

I generally don’t like posting negative opinions on the internet, but I have to agree with you here, I have submitted bug reports to Apple for much of the ghastliness which I encounter because I am convinced that what I’m seeing are bugs, incorrect operation, visual glitches or rendering issues.

Sadly, as of dev beta 8 nothing much seems to have changed and this is really starting to concern me now, and my dislike for liquid glass on macOS Tahoe is growing exponentially. Some of the design is absolutely hideous and just utterly non-sensical; for example - why do the glass panels in side bars inherit and change color based on background windows / desktop wallpaper etc, when the glass panel already sits atop a solid colored side panel of the currently focussed window!?? (Perhaps just a rendering issue in the various VM’s I've run Tahoe in as the vomit colored, highly distracting sidebar panel doesn’t seem to get captured in screenshots taken on the VM itself, though it does in screen recordings).

I’m not going to post the various screenshots and recordings I've taken of these issues. As Tahoe is still in beta I don’t feel it’s fair to be overly critical and fling sh** (yet), but at this point I feel like i’m just building a war-chest of macOS Tahoe, liquid glass design ‘ick’.

I'm praying these issues will be addressed before full release as there can be no way on earth that what I’m seeing is intended design - If it is, then this is going to be an extraordinarily rocky release for Apple, IMHO. 😳

/negativity
That does sound like VM-related rendering issues to me. The effect should be extremely subtle .
 
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Thought I'd say hi 👋 I just happen to be in that age group, been using a Mac since the mid90's (Performa 5400) and I like the design direction that we are currently on. As for the current OS's, as we don't have a GM release yet, I'll wait for that, instead of speculating that the world is falling down around me, and that life can't go on like this. 🥹
Same situation for me. In the age group outlined and have been using OSX and macOS since 2010 and 10.6. I actually like Liquid Glass and prefer the UI over anything since 10.9. I thought I would despise it based upon videos/screenshots until I installed the PB and realized I actually enjoy using it. There are a few edge cases where it just looks bad, but in general it’s subtle and doesn’t impact me to a degree that I get upset about it. I assume Apple still has a decent amount of tweaking and work to do in the next few weeks, but I’m not seeing the dumpster fire narrative that some are. I think it would help quell some of the complaints if Apple provided more options to tweak/turn off things, but the default seems pretty nice to this middle aged 15+ year Mac user.
 
I'm sure some people will love this


Looks like someone's customized android screen with clashing colors and some terrible script-style typeface.
 
Yup, to be fair, I don't really notice this much - seems similar to tinted windows, which have existed for a while: Does the particular effect make any sense? Not that I can see. But at least it's subtle enough that it doesn't cause a lot of harm.

Kinda - The "Allow wallpaper tinting in windows" setting doesn't affect the sidebar panels, it affects the window itself (in both Sequoia and Tahoe), so regardless of that setting I get garish Liquid Glass side-panels which are nowhere near as subtle as the tinted windows effect, which I don't find bothersome at all.


That does sound like VM-related rendering issues to me. The effect should be extremely subtle

I'm hopeful, if not for the fact that screenshots within the VM itself don't capture the t(a)inted sidebar, but for the fact that nobody else on the internet seems to be talking about this🤞🏼

-------------------

**Edit**
The fix to the issue is to enable 'Reduce Transparency' in Accessibility Settings. Liquid Glass elements aren't distracting now and I can enjoy the other features I do enjoy in the OS.
 
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The fix to the issue is to enable 'Reduce Transparency' in Accessibility Settings. Liquid Glass elements aren't distracting now and I can enjoy the other features I do enjoy in the OS.
That's what I may end up using—just wish it didn't make everything so flat and ugly. Pre-Yosemite, we used to have a UI that was both visually attractive and perfectly legible. Now, you somehow have to choose between the two. Seems so unnecessary... ugh
 
That's what I may end up using—just wish it didn't make everything so flat and ugly. Pre-Yosemite, we used to have a UI that was both visually attractive and perfectly legible. Now, you somehow have to choose between the two. Seems so unnecessary... ugh
That’s what frustrates me. Sequoia (to me) has a good balance of flat surfaces and tinting, just enough to enable depth without being distracting. Tahoe swings it completely the other way for no obvious reason.
 
It's still the very ugly and boring and designless flat ui, now with some glass effects. No I don't like flat ui and I don't like flat ui with glass effects.

It's clear that the only thing "liquid glass" about it is limited to widgets and pop-up notification windows. Otherwise it's just as flat as the last version, only now with more unwanted padding and rounding. This is honestly the worst of all worlds.
 
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That’s what frustrates me. Sequoia (to me) has a good balance of flat surfaces and tinting, just enough to enable depth without being distracting. Tahoe swings it completely the other way for no obvious reason.
Sequoia is another stop along the path of bad UI that started with El Capitan, and rapidly accelerated with Big Sur. Just because it's not as bad as the next one doesn't make it good.
 
I really like the look of liquid glass, but especially on macOS. It really makes me feel like going back in time, it reminds me of messing around with Compiz and Beryl on Linux. Making stuff look as glassy as possible, and it really fits well on my 2006 iMac-turned-display.
IMG_7367.jpg
 
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