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iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users
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Overall, I think that the update is, well, fine.
My complaints generally relate to little things. For example, why in the world does my phone now vibrate when an outgoing call is answered? Somebody must have thought that this would be a great new feature. But why? It does nothing useful; I don't need a vibrating phone to tell me (i) that I placed a call or (ii) that someone answered. The vibration is an unhelpful distraction, making me wonder whether something aside from he call requires attention.
Is there a way to turn it off?
My complaints generally relate to little things. For example, why in the world does my phone now vibrate when an outgoing call is answered? Somebody must have thought that this would be a great new feature. But why? It does nothing useful; I don't need a vibrating phone to tell me (i) that I placed a call or (ii) that someone answered. The vibration is an unhelpful distraction, making me wonder whether something aside from he call requires attention.
Is there a way to turn it off?
Apple needed Steve Jobs to spin faster to power the new AI data centres
Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm okay with it. It could use improvements, but those will come with time.
10.9 was the height of MacOS X interface design. iOS 6 was kind of ugly in its own ways. iOS 7 was absolutely hideous, and then it got increasingly less so.
10.9 was the height of MacOS X interface design. iOS 6 was kind of ugly in its own ways. iOS 7 was absolutely hideous, and then it got increasingly less so.
What I think of when I see people posting, "You losers always complain a bunch, but eventually you'll get used to it and shut up."
https://happyproject.in/learned-helplessness/
The dogs get used to it. But I wouldn't call them happy.
And for the people posting, "It's fresh and new!" in a week the novelty will have worn off and you'll want some other fresh and new things.
https://happyproject.in/learned-helplessness/
The dogs get used to it. But I wouldn't call them happy.
And for the people posting, "It's fresh and new!" in a week the novelty will have worn off and you'll want some other fresh and new things.
No way similar to the IOS 7 change!.
This time the contrast is a mess!.
Is not about “ugly” or “pretty”, is about less usability than before!.
It is graphics design school project!.
Is like those transparent screens in sci-di shows. Looks nice in photos, but usability is hindered!.
It is change for the sake of change!.
No real benefit for NOBOBY!.
Users have to find toggles that only power-users can know they are exist.
How is this innovation?. Trillion-dollar company and the best they can do is this poor, slow, battery intensive UI?.
This time the contrast is a mess!.
Is not about “ugly” or “pretty”, is about less usability than before!.
It is graphics design school project!.
Is like those transparent screens in sci-di shows. Looks nice in photos, but usability is hindered!.
It is change for the sake of change!.
No real benefit for NOBOBY!.
Users have to find toggles that only power-users can know they are exist.
How is this innovation?. Trillion-dollar company and the best they can do is this poor, slow, battery intensive UI?.
Isn’t that true for any update a company releases? Unfortunately, those who complain are more vocal online than those who enjoy the changes.
After reducing transparency on my 14 PM and on my watch, I like it. iOS was overdue a design change.
I don't, however, like the Safari changes which require additional clicks to get to Bookmarks and Tabs.
I don't, however, like the Safari changes which require additional clicks to get to Bookmarks and Tabs.
The glass is ok on iOS and MacOS. But on WatchOS it just makes it harder to read especially the notifications. Also on the Apple Watch Ultra the action button now does this silly and slow "bloom" animation when activated. It used to be ok with just a short flash animation.
As long as we are beating a dead horse with Apple, I find the new update mostly pleasant on its face. It is clear that Apple pushed this mess out the door knowing full well about many of the bugs and went ahead anyway. As the Apple hierarchy continues to dismantle the reputation they built decades ago, they do not seem to care and frankly, neither do I. The hard truth is that until Google or Samsung raise their game, we are stuck with what we have.
I hate hate hate hate having to tap more than once to see my Safari tabs!
It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected.
Any major design change can create controversy as people get used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature more criticism than praise as people discuss the update.
Complaints
There are a long list of complaints about Liquid Glass, from the impact on readability to lag caused by animations. Here are some of the main critiques:
Some People Like It
- Animations run slow, and the interface feels sluggish on older iPhones.
- The constantly changing colors, shapes, and shading are distracting.
- The animations make no sense.
- It looks like a Barbie phone with battery wasting features.
- Basic actions require too many taps.
- The bubbles and floaty icons are cartoony.
- The contrast is awful.
- Some app icons look blurry.
- The design is inconsistent, and some things are flat while some are glass.
- Highlights on UI elements are inconsistent.
- It's hard to read things like notifications.
- The effects are too subtle for the system overhead costs.
On the MacRumors forums, complaints about Liquid Glass are interspersed with responses from people who have been using it during beta, and the consensus is "you'll get used to it."
It does always take time to get used to a new look, and Liquid Glass will become less jarring as people become accustomed to the new animations and the behavior of buttons and other interface elements.
Not everyone hates Liquid Glass, and there are also many positive comments from people who prefer the new design. Some of that sentiment:
Media Complaints
- It makes the iPhone feel faster.
- It feels modern and clean, and makes a boring smartphone a little more fun.
- It's bright, bouncy, and just plain cool to use.
- Getting notifications is satisfying, and the Lock Screen keypad is like bubbles.
- It's fresh and easy to get accustomed to.
- iOS 18's flat UI was depressing, so iOS 26 is an improvement.
- It's technologically impressive with the light refraction and diffusion of chromatic aberration.
- The icons are slick and it harkens back to the OG Apple UI design.
iOS 7
- The unbearable sameness of Liquid Glass
- Liquid Glass Could Be One of Apple's Most Divisive System Designs Yet
- This Liquid Glass Optical Illusion on iOS 26 Is Driving Me Insane
- Apple's Liquid Glass: The liquid works, but the glass is broken
Everyone remembers iOS 7, because it was the first big design change that Apple made to iOS. Apple did away with skeuomorphism in favor of a "flat" design, and it was not a change that people were prepared for. A lot of the comments shared when iOS 7 came out mirror the comments we're seeing now about Liquid Glass.
Despite the complaints about iOS 7, Apple stuck with it. There were ongoing refinements to fix bugs and to tweak the overall design, but Apple didn't reverse course. Design updates in iOS 8, iOS 9, and iOS 10 didn't change the fundamentals, but it got better and bette... Click here to read rest of article
- iOS 7 Interface Design is so UGLY!
- The real problem with iOS 7 Design
- Does anyone dislike IOS 7 as much as I do?
- iOS 7 Bugs: Will They Ever be Fixed
- The biggest complaints about iOS 7 so far
- The design of iOS 7: simply confusing
Article Link: iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users
iPhone 14 Pro Max here. Both my wife and I have the same model. It's not laggy at all. Really smooth operation and no delays so far.
It is truly horrible. There is no way I am looking at this for the next decade. The iPhone will be GONE.
Personally, i find it to be significantly better on my iPhone 15 pro and M4 MBA. My battery usage is much better on both devices, but especially the 15 Pro. Most days I'm down to 40% by 8pm having removed charger at 90% at 6am. Today I'm already to 6pm and sitting at 70%. Adaptive power is not on. Usage is the same as normal. I also find it to actually be easier for me to see and more fun to use. The old design gave ne much more fatigue during night use.
The basic problem is that Tim Cook has neither good taste nor engineering judgment. All the OS's are increasingly difficult to use. "Design is the way it works"-Steve Jobs. From the persistence of the butterfly keyboard, to the self-driving Project Titan, to the Vision Pro, Tim demonstrates time after time after time that he only understand cheap, and pretty.
iOS innovation is dead! The software engineers behind this horrific UI should be shown the door.
Shouldn't have to do this and this cripples other things.
The compliance are legitimate concerns that Apple needs to address, while the likes mentioned in the article are more about one’s taste for the visual aspect of iOS 26. I would actually prefer a flatter more minimalist style without bug bugs…..
Its fine. Its far more readable then i thought it was going to be and i haven't really had any issues reading anything as of yet. It does smack a bit of Windows Vista's areo glass vibe but i liked the IDEA of how that was done all them years back, but not the execution for Windows.
But then again this is Apple we are taking about here, not microsoft, so you know they are putting in far more effort into this then anything microsoft does.
WHAT THIS SHOULD BE IS THE START OF THEMES for IOS.....Because thats what this is... a system wide THEME... most of the functionality is the same. They should open up the system to a themes store where users (Once certified by apple themselves) could sell various themes for their ios devices and open up a whole new market.
Id love to have a modern "Classic" theme of the skewmorphism theme return. I dont see why apple cant do that, and i think eventually they will have to (years down the road) cause lets be real here theres only so much they can do with software updates.
But then again this is Apple we are taking about here, not microsoft, so you know they are putting in far more effort into this then anything microsoft does.
WHAT THIS SHOULD BE IS THE START OF THEMES for IOS.....Because thats what this is... a system wide THEME... most of the functionality is the same. They should open up the system to a themes store where users (Once certified by apple themselves) could sell various themes for their ios devices and open up a whole new market.
Id love to have a modern "Classic" theme of the skewmorphism theme return. I dont see why apple cant do that, and i think eventually they will have to (years down the road) cause lets be real here theres only so much they can do with software updates.
I think the trick is to make the software taxing on older phones, make it so hard to imitate that it takes special chips to run it. But don't sell the phone with that chip just yet, let everyone update to it so it slows down their phones then introduce the phone that gets the effect so well people want to use it because nobody else can do that. That is a lot of sheisty stuff under the hood. Reminds me of the end of the motorola chips and g4 chips and intel chips. Apples next chips is going to show this off really well if you pony up over a grand for it. 😉
