You couldn’t use it all before either because it had the navigation bar at the bottom…
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Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3
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I get the to glass or not to glass debate. How is the stability of the beta? I’m thinking of finally jumping into the beta. Any major things you notice that was fixed between beta 2 and 3?
Beta 3 runs much better than 2. There are a few graphical bugs but the main issues I had with 2 are fixed. I wouldn’t hesitate to install beta 3 myself now on other devices.
Man what a shame this looks nothing like liquid glass. I actually loved the change, it looked so refreshing. More white & boring again…
Reality is the one of the right is more readable
But in this particular case it doesn’t matter because that’s not the main content. People already know what those 4 tabs do so it’s not that important to have them being extra readable at all times. The most important part of the ui in that screenshot is the main content: the list/grid of albums and songs and that is extremely readable.
I would disagree. Clearly Apple don't think that hence why they put labels below each tab. Why exactly are you making them less readable, what is being gained here exactly? You also have the text in the mini player with the song name and album which it is useful to be able to glance at quickly.
Also about that mini player having used the beta I really find it annoying how it collapses all the time. I want to be able to quickly jab at the next song button when using it you it keeps collapsing, so you press the mini player then the whole now playing UI opens up. Usability wise this is worse than what we have previously.
Apple needs to remember a computer is for doing stuff. It's not a lifestyle, as they want it to be.
This is all nice, but can we please get multiple personal spaces or at least one "second space"? Sometimes referred to as "multiple users" but on a phone it's just for *one user* to have better privacy / security / data segregation etc. I just know that apple could implement this feature in a very innovative way - the feature exists on other phones, but I bet apple could innovate big time. Thank you.
UI trends have barely evolved over the past decade. Liquid Glass may very well be a complete flop in the end, but there is no denying that it was a bold move.
Don't forget that the redesign in iOS 7 was also extremely polarizing.
You’re absolutely right. But that equally applies to over 90% of the activity on the forum right now.
Apple devices are tools. They enable you to do stuff.
The best UI is the one you see or notice the least amount of, because it gets out of your way. I don’t spend much of my daily life focusing on the UI, I’m focusing on stuff I’m doing through the UI.
Parts of this update look good, simply because it gets out of your way. But we can’t judge until we’ve been using it, not just looking and playing with it.
Ahem, some of us are using it for over a month now. Do our daily business and things on it. It's a mess, it will need a lot of work. But also not worth of the main upgrade as ultimately it is just a skin...
But you’re in a tiny minority, which is my point. The vast majority of iPhone users won’t be using it “in real life” until it is officially released and they are given the little red notification to update. Which they will, because their phone is telling them to.
And yes, it’s pretty much a skin, so I find it hard to take the threads on here very seriously. People do stuff through the OS, they don’t obsess about how the UI looks, as long as it functions.
I usually don’t bother with betas as all, purely because the less bugs and clunkiness, the better, and betas will have more bugs anc,unkindest. But I do have db2 on an iPad, purely to see windowing and a more finder-like “file”, speficially being able to have two File windows open as windows, and be able to copy and paste across them. That is important to me, because it’s a major factor why I carry around a MacBook not an iPad (serious work is done on a desktop Mac).
I honestly believe the vast vast majority of Apple’s customer base are not going to be nearly as worked up as commenters here (and on YouTube, other forums etc.) It’s not going to be a significant factor in iPhone sales, which is fundamentally the drive force at Apple, because money talks.
The perspective is very skewed here, not in terms of pro- or anti-, but simply on relevance to the vast majority of users. A significant improvement in battery life would be far more relevant to how glassy the glass is. The majority of users will update, will look at it for a bit, have an opinion, and will move on, still using their phone and adapting to the changes. After a month, the new UI is just the default.
As I said in the previous post, all I want the UI to do is get out of the way as much as possible. I suspect the vast majority of iPhone users feel the same way. And I don’t think a lot for commenters on these threads, especially in the first 20 or so comments, is in any way indicative of the majority of iPhone users. It is inductive of Apple-focused YouTubers, and it is their interest to generate drama, controversy and outrage, because those three things pique interests, interest means clicks and views, and clicks and views mean income for those YouTubers.
Yes, Apple often uses dubious marketing and promotional tactics to maximise revenue, and Apple-focused YouTubers do the same, for the same reason.
So no, I don’t take the debate and discussion at face value. I think the user base as a whole care far less about this than “professional commenters” would like them to.
I see forums and discussion like this as just entertainment, but instigated and escalated by those who very much want it to be monetised entertainment.
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You are conflating opinion with actualities. it isn't the skin that is a mess, it is the effect it has on using it. It clearly demonstrates that iOS isn't design as skinnable as it introduces a lot of actual real issues which you can't get to certain functions, multiple clicks of keyboards to make them disappear, dropdowns overlapping, text becoming illegible. Sure it is a BETA, it is BETA 3. Likely still 6 more iterations to go. And those bugs will get ironed out and some don't. The reason why there is so much reaction on it is that it is so noticeable, ordinary users that don't care (and I fall in that category as I never skin or tweak ui's....) can't be notice it because it just doesn't work and doesn't add value. Definitely not worthy of being called a feature, and so bad that I can't even remember what the other features are in this major software upgrade
On macOS it is let in the way, and not so much on the foreground. But still very noticeable with the windows adapting to the colour of what is being displayed and borders becoming less noticeable like at the top of the window where it blends in. A usability and accessibility nightmare.
I’m willing to admit that I was wrong. After using beta 3 for several days, I think it’s a step in the right direction while maintaining distinction from iOS 18.
