Glass is complicated as a design element, give it time

[Cuesca]

I would love an option for at least iPadOS26 and MacOS26 to revert back to the old design.

 

[AlanMarron]

LG is not supposed to make anything better, it's supposed to unify all of Apple's devices as one. It is also supposed to set the future tone of content awareness, as in the future is the visibility of content consumption. That is, the glass/transparency lets the user focus on the content and let the UI disappear. This is setting up for the inevitable evolution to glass displays, wearables, holograms, etc. Why do you think Meta and Google are investing huge amounts of money into wearable companies like Gentle Monster and Meta with Ray-ban, Oakley and now investments into Luxottica (The world's largest glass manufacturer)?

I understand. But I don’t understand having content semi-disappear beneath frosted glass rather than just disappearing. To me, that makes the UI more noticeable, not less noticeable.

 

[FatLouie]

I mean it’s obvious, right? I suggested this earlier but ppl just laughed at my idea https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...distract-from-the-ai-disaster-merged.2458893/

It is something that should be seriously considered. I have no idea how long Apple was considering this LG idea, but the AI/Siri issues are on the back burner of users' minds and the media. The AI fiasco was a huge media blunder for Apple, one they could not possibly recover from; they can only distract from it now.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

I've been working in a relevant field for the better part of two decades. A good interface minimizes cognitive overhead and keeps out of the user's way. Transparent interfaces don't do that. They add visual noise and increase cognitive and perceptual demand. It doesn't matter whether it's pretty or not, and it certainly doesn't matter whether it's a technical achievement. Architects design an awful lot of aesthetically appealing buildings that end up with critical flaws once built because of their design choices. (Fallingwater House, anyone?) The point of the UI is to provide a service to the user, and transparent interfaces are bad at that. That's why people are down on Liquid Glass.

I am wondering, what you and anyone else thinks about the current control center design. I feel like it's an LG precursor but can't put my finger on why.

 

[123123123]

I am wondering, what you and anyone else thinks about the current control center design. I feel like it's an LG precursor but can't put my finger on why.

You mean the translucency? Doesn’t bug me. I don’t think many people spend much time in the control center, and the translucency is so minimal that I don’t think there’s much interference with the actual useful elements.

 

[cjsuk]

It is something that should be seriously considered. I have no idea how long Apple was considering this LG idea, but the AI/Siri issues are on the back burner of users' minds and the media. The AI fiasco was a huge media blunder for Apple, one they could not possibly recover from; they can only distract from it now.

The whole AI thing is a blunder across everything. They were pressured and compelled to do anything at any cost by the media driven by the hype from other vendors. No one has delivered a competent, reliable AI solution yet for anything. The stacked up failures are still being talked around and hidden. User uptake is low and there is little to no ROI parity with the the expenditure.

Apple need to acknowledge that situation and stop the distraction. But if they do that the entire market will crash everywhere. Literally billions will be written off, not just on Apple but Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, Tesla the lot.

No one wants to push that domino over. That’s where we are. So we get liquid glass to give us hope and hope someone else will collapse first. Which is nothing but a stain on their reputation so far.

If you look at the talk versus the capital movements of professional investors, not ETFs, private traders etc they are echoing the hype constantly to give the market enough volatility to sell to bag holders.

But at least we got an iOS UI refresh…

 

[n-evo]

And if they REALLY wanted to show off, they'd base the design on water, not glass. Make it not just transparent but also ripply!

Up to this point you’re actually describing what Mac OS X looks like. Dashboard widgets even produced waves when dropping them on the screen.

 

[jakey rolling]

People who don't understand how complicated it is to render real glass in real time won't know that it will take MANY iterations of iOS to get to point of excellence.

People who don't understand how complicated it is to install LED lights and water jets into the bottom of a toilet bowl won't know that it will take MANY iterations to get to the point of having a disco poop jacuzzi.

The real question is: why the hell is anyone spending the "iterative" effort to create something nobody asked for?

 

[AlanMarron]

People who don't understand how complicated it is to install LED lights and water jets into the bottom of a toilet bowl won't know that it will take MANY iterations to get to the point of having a disco poop jacuzzi.

The real question is: why the hell is anyone spending the "iterative" effort to create something nobody asked for?

Pat in marketing thinks it will boost sales.

 

[tim_apple]

People who don't understand how complicated it is to install LED lights and water jets into the bottom of a toilet bowl won't know that it will take MANY iterations to get to the point of having a disco poop jacuzzi.

The real question is: why the hell is anyone spending the "iterative" effort to create something nobody asked for?

Because it is beautiful! 😬

 

[waziazi]

u've been slurping up that d all ur life haven't ya? there is nothing here. it's empty. no value over a ms95 ui. this thing that has consumed our minds is no longer relevant. one day it will make sense, and when it does, it will be yesterday for you

 

[GioGiusi]

I mean half the time its just solid white and not even somewhat glassy. Clearly it isn't even fully working yet.

 

[GioGiusi]

How am I defensive? Capitalism allows you to do as you please. Enjoy the ride lmao

I've been with Apple since the 90s, I know how they work. I have even done things for them at high levels. Apple is an iterative company, they don't randomly do things like all these other companies which show off great demos, but in reality they are fun demos.

I can also criticize them, I have many complaints. You have the right do that as well. Also no one is changing the topic, I have no idea what you're saying tbh.

Do you have any better ideas? Go ahead and spill it.


Aqua was also liquid, but now they are doing real LG which their processors can handle with ease. They're going back to their roots of the first release of Mac OS X. Before that it was platinum.



What would you like it to offer? Send them feedback. It's not a simple reskin and they're not putting lipstick on a pig like Microsoft does year after year. Android is also the same, the latest UI updates are pretty ugly and unusable imo. It looks like a Gen Z designers wet dream. They aren't improving quality of life.



Are you on the dev beta? It's clearly not just rendering of glass. It's more complicated than that. Give it time it will get better.




It's Dev beta, dude. They are not shipping .0 until September. It's still very buggy and slow even on my iPhone 16 Pro. I keep sending them feedback just like thousands of others do every new iOS release. It will get better.



It's buggy and slow, as Dev beta's always are. I, frankly, as a designer and user welcome these new changes.



Because for other companies they love making tech demos that doesn't make quality of life better. Apple actually adds functions that help life better. AirDrop, Continuity....I can go on and on.

Do other companies have fancy 200x zoom lenses? Sure. But who cares? We're talking about hardware at this stage, not UI. The topic at hand is software.



I don't like Alan Dye, but he's not at fault here. The technical things will be fixed, send feedback if you're a developer.

You're wasting your time lecturing internet weirdos. It's a fantastic design concept that is still evolving, and isn't even fully implemented yet.

 

[rafark]

Even Microsoft a few years ago tried to do it with great looking renders, but to actually pull it off is another story.

What are those renders?

 

[klasma]

I am wondering, what you and anyone else thinks about the current control center design. I feel like it's an LG precursor but can't put my finger on why.

When Control Center was introduced with iOS 7, it was already (frosted) glassy:

 

[SDAVE]

What are those renders?

MICROSOFT • Fluent UI

I collaborated with Nando Costa and the Microsoft Design team to explore and build the key visuals for Microsoft's new Fluent UI and be a part of the ongoing evolution of Microsoft’s visual language.

www.behance.net

 

[rafark]

MICROSOFT • Fluent UI

I collaborated with Nando Costa and the Microsoft Design team to explore and build the key visuals for Microsoft's new Fluent UI and be a part of the ongoing evolution of Microsoft’s visual language.

www.behance.net

Thanks. Wow i can’t believe Microsoft has been the trend setter when it comes to ui design in the modern era. I don’t use windows (🤮) but almost everyone thinks apple is the one that set the trend for flat design with iOS 7 but it was actually Microsoft with windows 8 which was released over a year before ios 7. It looks like it’s going to b a similar story regarding liquid glass after seeing those renders…

I don’t understand why windows is so fugly though.

 

[springsup]

There’s a reason we don’t tend to write things on glass in the real world - it’s not a great reading surface. In fact we even need to put posters on glass doors to ensure people don’t walk through them. We don’t tend to have glass control panels on bathroom or kitchen appliances, in cars or anywhere, really. It’s just not a practical material and it’d look weird. Imagine if your cooking top/range had a glass control panel. They tend to be very simplistic and high-contrast if they do.

Glass is a wonderful material for many other things - windows, because you can see through it, cups and dishes because it’s easy to clean, withstands a large range of temperatures, and looks nice. It has a place but this - as physically accurate as they’ve done it - doesn’t fit a smartphone UI concept.

 

[ralph_sws]

Apple hired a PR firm? 😂

 

[Faize]

There’s a reason we don’t tend to write things on glass in the real world - it’s not a great reading surface. In fact we even need to put posters on glass doors to ensure people don’t walk through them. We don’t tend to have glass control panels on bathroom or kitchen appliances, in cars or anywhere, really. It’s just not a practical material and it’d look weird. Imagine if your cooking top/range had a glass control panel. They tend to be very simplistic and high-contrast if they do.

Glass is a wonderful material for many other things - windows, because you can see through it, cups and dishes because it’s easy to clean, withstands a large range of temperatures, and looks nice. It has a place but this - as physically accurate as they’ve done it - doesn’t fit a smartphone UI concept.

Yeah, I can't understand why Apple chose glass of all things to make a UI out of. Not only is it not a reading material, it's outright boring.

I mean, is there anyone out there who gets excited when thinking about window glass? Anyone who thinks that glass cups are aspirational? Anyone whose childhood dream revolves around Pyrex dishes?

 

[one more]

Yeah, I can't understand why Apple chose glass of all things to make a UI out of. Not only is it not a reading material, it's outright boring.

I mean, is there anyone out there who gets excited when thinking about window glass? Anyone who thinks that glass cups are aspirational? Anyone whose childhood dream revolves around Pyrex dishes?

I think you misunderstood the whole Liquid Glass concept. The LG elements are not there to admire, but instead to be the least intrusive and not to take your attention away from the actual contents you interact with.

If you see how it is currently implemented in video overlays (big glass see-through buttons), it makes quite a bit of sense. And, as was pointed out in this thread, glass is one of the least obstructive materials, as it is see through.

Apple just need to figure out its adaptive transparency better, so it is also useable in all circumstances, but the general idea is very neat, IMHO.

 

[Tig_one]

It's not just cosmetic changes, it unifies all their devices which they have been trying to do for ages.

That's the problem.

 

[HouseLannister]

I think you misunderstood the whole Liquid Glass concept.

Hence it is a design failure.

 

[Arran]

Hence it is a design failure.

I don’t think anybody can say that until it’s been released to the general public. That’s when we’ll find out.

So far, I see a lot of conjecture with only a few reports based on actual experience with the product.

 

[jakey rolling]

I think you misunderstood the whole Liquid Glass concept. The LG elements are not there to admire, but instead to be the least intrusive and not to take your attention away from the actual contents you interact with.

If you see how it is currently implemented in video overlays (big glass see-through buttons), it makes quite a bit of sense. And, as was pointed out in this thread, glass is one of the least obstructive materials, as it is see through.

Apple just need to figure out its adaptive transparency better, so it is also useable in all circumstances, but the general idea is very neat, IMHO.

Getting out of the way is more intrusive than drawing transparent controls over top of the thing you're trying to control. You're being pretty condescending when you say that people "misunderstood" the liquid glass concept. Most people understand it just fine. We just hate having our content blocked by the play button and think that having controls separated from the content is a far better experience.

Apple needs to figure out more than just "adaptive transparency" better.