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iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users
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I absolutely love the new call screen feature built into iOS26, it's my fav feature of an iOS build in years! But man I hate liquid glass! I call it Liquid Ass, it's truly terrible!
Exactly! I noticed it too. Actually LG _is_ “catchy” so such first reaction is understandable. That’s the only good feature of LG btw. Apple actually copied Android paradigm implemented many years ago - put everything in capsules which don’t add any functionality but look “cool” and take a lot of space. This is actually end of Ive/Jobs era. For good and bad. Maybe they made research and saw that younger generations prefer distracting, catchy capsules instead of simple, productive, rectangle based design. I don’t know. We’ll see in 1-2 years. Apple knows that it’s just the beginning of the road and a lot of improvements (and rollbacks) are to be made in the following years.
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Funny how much opinions can differ. iOS 1 to 6 were the most hideous ever imo
Most of all I like this manipulation with the name of the operating system. Psychological manipulation of human consciousness creating the illusory nature of the new version of the operating system every year
to quote from that Verge article, it's all
part of a trend within Apple right now toward a total collapse of the gaps between devices, in an attempt to make everything be everything to everyone all the time.
so they stuff OS with cartoonish iOS features, making us hostages to the zero-attention-span trinket crowd, which needs everything baby-book-sized and popping and flashing and morphing and gimmicked to death to keep it focused.
I'm stuck with 15.7 until it's run its course, at which point I'll be moving on, if I even get there, because having to clean my mbp while it's on (what is a power button?) is driving me nuts already.
Couldn’t agree more. The worst part of the story is that device that influenced LG the most was Vision Pro - device that hardly anybody uses and even wants. It’s crazy …
…. unless it’s part of a long term plan? Maybe Apple will introduce 3-dimensional screens in 2026 or 2027 (20th anniversary of iPhone). LG on 3-dimensional iPhone would look amazing (usability and cleanness left aside for now).
“Our products are EVEV BETTER now! Let me introduce: three dimensional iPhone with amazing LiquidGlass interface!”- Tim in 2026/7.
🤔
call me Luddite idc, as far as phones are concerned, I'd actually be happy if they would let me upgrade my 1st gen SE to this vaseline and emoji soup, because anything else is too big for my needs.
as for the rest, nothing I do requires a touch 3D screen, so whatever their plan, I won't be joining. I don't change my socks every hour, so I'm not their target audience anyway, my previous mac served me a good ten years, and UI wise, remains miles ahead. I was just waiting for them to bring back a screen that doesn't double as a mirror, so now I'll just let this M4 machine run its course, and then go back to pen & paper or whatever.
Don’t mix 2 things: personal preferences and objective view on Apple strategy.
For the latter - it’s just my guess that LG may be part of something bigger e.g. 3 dimentional screens in iPhone and Apple Watch (and MacBook?). I have no idea whether it does make sense. Just me analyzing things.
For the former - I’ve just installed fresh new Sequoia on my Mac with no plans to upgrade soon + just buying new iPhone 16 (having 13 now) with plan to downgrade to iOS18 until it’s possible (it’s not possible on iPhone 17).
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If the GUI does not work for me...Then I don't use the device or software. Since Apple doesn't offer a way to disable Liquid Glass, I have officially purchased my last Apple device this year. I will stick with the hardware and software I currently have. Other than daily use, I am essentially out of the Apple playground.
My 70-year-old eyes ain't putting up with the Liquid Glass design. Bye, Apple, hate to go...but you brought this on yourself.
My 70-year-old eyes ain't putting up with the Liquid Glass design. Bye, Apple, hate to go...but you brought this on yourself.
Anybody else thinking about going back to iOS 18 needs to do it very soon.
Once they close the signing window, you will never be able to go back again.
And purchase iPhone 16? Seems like that’s the last model downgradable to iOS18.
EDIT: … if you have old model and planned upgrade at all, ofc.
Probably yes on the iPhone 16
I don’t have a lot of opinions on that as I’m a mini user so I’m stuck on the 13 mini
Many of us are not even close to boomers.
Try not to stereotype like that as it’s often wrong.
well, at the end of the day, any corporate strategy boils down to profit, and I'm not sure how my view of something which tramples over my preferences can be objective. theorising about what motivates them is neither here or there really when you are presented with a 'take it or leave it' choice.
My take after a while with iOS 26 is that Liquid Glass needs to be toned down a bit, in a few key areas. When it works, it works well. It’s not like there wasn’t transparency in iOS 18. I think Apple will get it sorted and it will be fine.
CarPlay, on the other hand, looks fantastic. A definite improvement aesthetically.
Will be curious to see how much Apple tweaks iOS 26 in the coming months.
CarPlay, on the other hand, looks fantastic. A definite improvement aesthetically.
Will be curious to see how much Apple tweaks iOS 26 in the coming months.
I read this latest iOS can be a pain: if the text pops too much, go to settings > accessibility > motion, and toggle on 'reduce motion'; or simply increase transparency to 200% and it will disappear!
And the fact that they put OS and proprietary apps in one bundle. I hate this. No problem to e.g. release new version of Camera in March. They are so short of new features that must sell everything as “new OS version”, which makes no sense.
One exception is Safari. It’s a web browser, always prone to attacks, so they are forced to update it more often.
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My gripes with liquid glass are:
1. It feels inconsistently applied. This might be just due to Apple rushing to get the os out instead of being able to do polish. Fine, that’s the state of software development anyway. Previous major design changes were the same so I’m sure this aspect will improve but I don’t have high hopes. Buttons just load broken on some UIs, status bars in apps like Messages are now unable to convey useful information, and even the OS keyboard is now inconsistent between apps.
2. Too many damn animations. Maybe I’m getting old but I don’t see any value in the animations other than the cute factor. I enjoy cute things but the animations got old real quick for me. I think it makes the phone feel more sluggish too, since it takes more frames to change the state of something when it’s animated. I understand that some people enjoy them, and good for them, but using the “reduce motion” option doesn’t seem to do much for reducing the new animations, and it actually removes useful motion, like when you trigger app switching.
3. All of these animations and transparency effects have a rendering cost. I’d much rather have Apple focus on making the battery last as long as possible instead of making the UI look more flashy.
All I want at this point is an option to let me turn it off. I know you can tone it down with the accessibility options but that seems to also be implemented in a half-ass manner and is inconsistent in what it turns off.
I also wonder if the reason some people like it so much is due to the historical complete lack of flair and customization in iOS, meaning people will fall in love with the first non “boring” UI Apple has put out in ages? I’m glad those people like it but I’d like the ability to go back to a boring UI that has been polished over the years and isn’t chasing a fad in design trends.
1. It feels inconsistently applied. This might be just due to Apple rushing to get the os out instead of being able to do polish. Fine, that’s the state of software development anyway. Previous major design changes were the same so I’m sure this aspect will improve but I don’t have high hopes. Buttons just load broken on some UIs, status bars in apps like Messages are now unable to convey useful information, and even the OS keyboard is now inconsistent between apps.
2. Too many damn animations. Maybe I’m getting old but I don’t see any value in the animations other than the cute factor. I enjoy cute things but the animations got old real quick for me. I think it makes the phone feel more sluggish too, since it takes more frames to change the state of something when it’s animated. I understand that some people enjoy them, and good for them, but using the “reduce motion” option doesn’t seem to do much for reducing the new animations, and it actually removes useful motion, like when you trigger app switching.
3. All of these animations and transparency effects have a rendering cost. I’d much rather have Apple focus on making the battery last as long as possible instead of making the UI look more flashy.
All I want at this point is an option to let me turn it off. I know you can tone it down with the accessibility options but that seems to also be implemented in a half-ass manner and is inconsistent in what it turns off.
I also wonder if the reason some people like it so much is due to the historical complete lack of flair and customization in iOS, meaning people will fall in love with the first non “boring” UI Apple has put out in ages? I’m glad those people like it but I’d like the ability to go back to a boring UI that has been polished over the years and isn’t chasing a fad in design trends.