Matsamoto
macrumors 65816
Are we?
Why do you say that everyone is lauding it?
I still don’t like it. I still hate the Fisher Price OS.
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Liquid Glass popularity.
- Thread starter LiquidGlassfan
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Why do you say that everyone is lauding it?
I still don’t like it. I still hate the Fisher Price OS.
I’m one of those people who has been trashing Liquid Glass from the very beginning.
I still think it’s a “fix” for a problem that didn’t exist in the first place, and that it was change for the sake of change. iOS 18 did look cleaner. It was refined. On top of that, Liquid Glass genuinely made iOS worse to use, both from a UI and a performance perspective.
That said, I’ve already started getting used to it. Either enough time has passed and I’ve genuinely adapted to it, or Apple has gradually improved it through the smaller updates and fixed some of its worst mistakes.
For context, I’m running the latest version of iOS 26.
Apparently, iOS 27 will come with a slider that lets you adjust Liquid Glass. To me, that’s Apple’s way of saying: “We screwed up, but we’re not going to admit it directly because Apple doesn’t officially make bad design decisions. We’re Apple, after all. Instead, we’ll add this slider that supposedly gives you more options, but in reality, it’s just a way to turn Liquid Glass off.”
I still think it’s a “fix” for a problem that didn’t exist in the first place, and that it was change for the sake of change. iOS 18 did look cleaner. It was refined. On top of that, Liquid Glass genuinely made iOS worse to use, both from a UI and a performance perspective.
That said, I’ve already started getting used to it. Either enough time has passed and I’ve genuinely adapted to it, or Apple has gradually improved it through the smaller updates and fixed some of its worst mistakes.
For context, I’m running the latest version of iOS 26.
Apparently, iOS 27 will come with a slider that lets you adjust Liquid Glass. To me, that’s Apple’s way of saying: “We screwed up, but we’re not going to admit it directly because Apple doesn’t officially make bad design decisions. We’re Apple, after all. Instead, we’ll add this slider that supposedly gives you more options, but in reality, it’s just a way to turn Liquid Glass off.”
FeliApple
macrumors 603
I agree completely, it looks like an artistic experiment that is bound to be controversial even within Apple. I reckon it’d be divisive even internally, especially with its obvious battery life and performance impact.
If you watch Apple’s presentation video on Liquid Glass, you get the idea behind it, there is a criteria for it. I don’t like it, but it’s there.
I feel like embarking on this project that is bound to be divisive is wrong. Because even among Apple fans polls favour iOS 18, with polls showing a close to 50-50 split with a clear edge to iOS 18 (throughout most polls I’ve seen except this one, which makes sense, MacRumors is uncharacteristically pro-iOS updates, far more than other platforms).
Apple typically goes forward without caring so we are just going to have to accept it, however.
The binding of security updates is a lost battle. If the massive performance and battery life impact of iOS updates isn’t enough to sway them from a security standpoint, a mere design decision isn’t either.
The slider doesn’t turn off Liquid Glass, it just changes the level of opacity.
The main things that made liquid glass annoying (IMO) were it’s lack of customisation, the bugs associated with it, and the annoying shine around everything, especially in dark mode. Now that they (mostly) fixed both issues and gave it a glow up with these nice grey accents on elements, I feel like it should no longer be hated as strongly. Moreover if you hate it’s transparency you can just turn it off. If you hate floating UI elements then I don’t know what to tell you.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Why do you think it was an experiment?
I vaguely recall people being upset with OS X 10.0 GUI and Apple continued full speed ahead, people largely came to accept it. I was one of the folks that loved Aqua and was the main reason to install the beta way back in the day.
An experiment implies that this is to be a one-off temporary change to gauge the success/failure and that doesn't seem to be the apple way. This seems more of a strategic decision, not some sort of proof of concept experiment.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Its called hyperbole, lol. Your post smack of being pedantic and missing the context of my post.
Yes, technically, not every soul using Tahoe or GG (or iOS 26) loves Liquid Glass, I didn't think that needed to be said, but here we are ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Try not to miss the forest through the trees, lol.
klasma
macrumors G4
It’s an experiment in the sense that they have been changing the Liquid Glass design trying to figure out what might work. The decision for Liquid Glass was made prematurely, before thoroughly thinking it through. Hence the users became the guinea pigs.
klasma
macrumors G4
At the cost of lower contrast between foreground and background than what we had before. And at the cost of being a UI mode that devs rarely test for and that comes with its own visual quirks.
Yes, that’s not fixable either.
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FeliApple
macrumors 603
I get your point, but it’s still glass, just less transparent. It is an improvement obviously but the underlying idea is still there.
I hate floating UI elements and there’s no solution for that, like you said.
And the 20-30% battery life impact, and a significant performance impact that is present even on the latest devices that can be updated to 26, are both still there and are completely unfixable. Which is ridiculous for a first major update at this point in time.
Even the iPhone 11 had like-new battery life on iOS 18 (I tested that myself, updating straight from iOS 14). They were getting better. This throws the whole thing away and just says: “you want battery life? Good luck”.
How have they fixed the annoying shine though? I updated Telegram on my 16 Plus on iOS 18 and didn’t realise it would change the design and it’s the ugliest app I’ve ever seen now.
FeliApple
macrumors 603
If I have to use a black wallpaper to minimise the ugliness of the OS, it’s not perfect, imo.
Nothing at Apple is ever an experiment because it has customers who blindly throw money at its front door.
Steve Jobs could have made customers sh*t in their hand, stamped an apple logo on it, and sold it back to them....and people would pay for it. Tim Cook just carried on the tradition. Apple will continue to be successful because customers refuse to vote with their wallet and the prices will continue to go up even though the company blames it on RAM chips....right.
Liquid Glass looks great; I'd like a few more nods to Aqua in the future.
It is much better than when it was first released since I have managed to disable most of it due to the dot releases. Still don't understand why Apple requires you to visit several setup pages to turn off or tone down the UI.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
You can make the case that its not an experiment because they were planning to use it long term, and have been dialing it in based on mass adoption and feedback. Just because Apple has been altering the UI, doesn't mean its an experiment.
I think the answers would align to folks in the market segments Apple’s actively targeting. From the top where they’re not in the market Apple targets, but Apple’s happy to get money from them to the bottom where they’re whom Apple designs products for.
Of course, those at the bottom now will be closer to the top in 10 years or so. 🙂
Of course, those at the bottom now will be closer to the top in 10 years or so. 🙂
I guess I am in the don't care camp as long as the functions of each device works without a hiccup.
