macOS Tahoe: A Pattern of Poor Usability and Design Regression

[Kal Madda]

The problem with the new "Settings" style is that many things that were obvious to get to are not so obvious anymore. Lots of clicking on 3 dot buttons to find manual settings. I am somewhat used to it now, but more often than not it is just easier to type what you want in the search bar instead of navigating 400 categories until you find what you want.

It makes sense on the phone and iPad the way it is, not so much on a desktop computer.

Windows is pretty much the same mess.

Personally I think High Sierra has probably been the best visual version of the OS, however I really do miss the 3D looking dock, that was cool.

People who actually do intensive computational and graphical work on their computers would probably agree that wasting CPU and GPU cycles on candied GUI elements is stupid.

I for one hate the extreme rounded corners on windows. I would challenge anyone to come up with a single good reason to have rounded them as much as they are in Tahoe for macOS. It is probably not that big of a deal with iOS and iPad OS since those devices are more than likely running full screen all the time anyway; and the displays are rounded on all 4 sides, so it would look like your pulling it from the rounded corner, which make sense for those devices.

I am going to laugh my ass off if the new studio displays have extreme rounded corners like iPads and iPhones.

They’re far more obvious to get to than that dumb and annoying System Preferences setup was… 🤷🏼‍♂️

Search is a great feature, also much better than the frustrating and dumb icon grid layout of Preferences…

Windows is the primary OS in the OS market, and what many who are moving to the Mac are familiar with, so it makes sense to employ a similar design. And sidebar structured settings apps aren’t a “mess”, they just make more sense, especially on a desktop OS… 🤷🏼‍♂️

That’s fine, you think High Sierra looked great, personally, I thought it looked ugly. I didn’t miss Catalina when I upgraded my Mac, the aesthetic looked stale and ugly to me, as if it came from the mid 2000s era at the time of Windows 7… It looked dated and ugly, and those angled app icons of various inconsistent shapes looked hideous to me…

Yeah, I agree, wasting CPU and GPU resources on GUI elements is stupid, so we should just completely strip macOS of a GUI, and return it to command line. Right? I think not. Tahoe’s GUI looks fresh and beautiful, and doesn’t use that many resources…

I, for one, love the rounded app window corners. They make macOS look modern, and not like it’s some abandoned project from the 90s or early 2000s like it did before… And it actually matches the rounded corners of MacBook displays… It looks much nicer than hard square edges which look antique…

I would love an Apple Studio Display with rounded corners, it would look much nicer and more modern and sleek. I hope they do that. 👍🏻

 

[Isamilis]

Some users (including myself) are sensitive to the art, alignment, consistency, clarity, simplicity, ease of use. These people are the one who scream (hard) about the new design. Some others are just don’t care about design etc. They just use the laptop or phone as a tools, nothing more.

These two obviously couldn’t agree on Tahoe’s design changes. They focus on different things. Each claims they’re the correct one.

 

[Kal Madda]

Some users (including myself) are sensitive to the art, alignment, consistency, clarity, simplicity, ease of use. These people are the one who scream (hard) about the new design. Some others are just don’t care about design etc. They just use the laptop or phone as a tools, nothing more.

These two obviously couldn’t agree on Tahoe’s design changes. They focus on different things. Each claims they’re the correct one.

Yeah, so in other words, those of us who like the art, alignment, consistency, clarity, simplicity, and ease of use on display in macOS Tahoe just don’t have “good taste”, and you’re taste is the only one that matters… Or maybe different people have different tastes on subjective matters like this, and opinions are opinions, and are equally valid as such…

I’m a freelance graphic designer, and I love the new design.

 

[Minghold]

THANK YOU! Well said. My thoughts precisely. It is a huge backwards step in all that we have learned (painfully) about UI/UX over the last 25 years or so. And accessibility? Yeah, that flew right out the window.

We are now deep in the Windows 11 stage of MacOS -- I can't think of a single new "feature" of the last half-decade that was anything I cared for, and all the while the level of data-collection, artificial obsolescence, adverwhoring, and gatekeeping has escalated exponentially.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

It is different this time around. Well, it is certainly different for me.

Since you aren't running macOS 26, perhaps you should wait till you've spent a good deal of time with it to develop an opinion. Your having an opinion at this time is just you guessing.

I originally liked it. I voted "yes" in the poll about Liquid Glass on this site. A bit later I changed it to "meh". Then, later still, I changed it to "no". It took a bit of using it to realize we have a significant problem. I had to pay careful attention, stumble across egregious problem areas, think about the challenges of other users, and consider the training I've had in UI design over the last 35 years.

Here's a perfect example of a complainer.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ios-18-is-the-worst-software-apple-has-ever-released-i-wish-so-bad-i-had-stayed-on-17-7.2440548/

In this thread iOS 17 is the best ever and iOS 18 is the worse ever. Now, if you go to the iOS 26 thread, iOS 26 is the worse ever and iOS 18 is the best ever. Spot the pattern? Wait a year and the worst ever becomes the greatest ever! 🥳

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Absolutely this, 100%! 👍🏻. Every new thing Apple releases people go after in these forums claiming Apple’s “losing their way”, supposedly “don’t care about their customers”, “made the worst mistake ever”, etc. fill in the blank, and then when the next thing comes, that first one was the best thing ever, and the new thing is the worst. It’s an endless spiral…

Look at this brouhaha over Tahoe, for example… When Apple introduced macOS Big Sur with a new design language and new app icons, people were freaking out in forums like this and going on and on about how “awful”, “Fischer-Price”, and “unprofessional” it supposedly looked… Yet fast forward a few years, and Sequoia (using the same design language these people were previously complaining about) is “professional”, “sleek”, and the shining example of what macOS should be or look like, or whatever… 🙄🤦🏼‍♂️. Just wait, when Apple introduces the next visual style years down the road that will come after Liquid Glass. The people complaining about Liquid Glass today will be complaining about that new design and praising how great the Liquid Glass UI looked… 🤷🏼‍♂️

This is just cyclical, and very annoying that people always want to raise such a stink over any little change or new thing… 🤦🏼‍♂️

In the following thread, iOS 18 is the worst but iOS 17 is the best. If you go to an iOS 26 complaint thread, iOS 26 is now the worst and iOS 18 has become the Muhammad Ali of iOS versions, the greatest of all time.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ios-18-is-the-worst-software-apple-has-ever-released-i-wish-so-bad-i-had-stayed-on-17-7.2440548/

 

[Kal Madda]

In the following thread, iOS 18 is the worst but iOS 17 is the best. If you go to an iOS 26 complaint thread, iOS 26 is now the worst and iOS 18 has become the Muhammad Ali of iOS versions, the greatest of all time.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ios-18-is-the-worst-software-apple-has-ever-released-i-wish-so-bad-i-had-stayed-on-17-7.2440548/

Yep, this is cyclical, and seems to happen nearly every new OS release, or at least with basically any new change. There’s always something people seem to want to make a stink over. I remember people were complaining about dark mode icons (which are entirely optional), and the new customizable Control Center design in iOS 18, which is still my favorite feature from iOS 18, and something I have made extensive use of to pin Siri Shortcuts for quick access. Some just seem to want to be negative about any change, and want things to stay the same forever… 🤷🏼‍♂️. I think you got it spot on. 👍🏻

 

[star-affinity]

Absolutely this, 100%! 👍🏻. Every new thing Apple releases people go after in these forums claiming Apple’s “losing their way”, supposedly “don’t care about their customers”, “made the worst mistake ever”, etc. fill in the blank, and then when the next thing comes, that first one was the best thing ever, and the new thing is the worst. It’s an endless spiral…

Look at this brouhaha over Tahoe, for example… When Apple introduced macOS Big Sur with a new design language and new app icons, people were freaking out in forums like this and going on and on about how “awful”, “Fischer-Price”, and “unprofessional” it supposedly looked… Yet fast forward a few years, and Sequoia (using the same design language these people were previously complaining about) is “professional”, “sleek”, and the shining example of what macOS should be or look like, or whatever… 🙄🤦🏼‍♂️. Just wait, when Apple introduces the next visual style years down the road that will come after Liquid Glass. The people complaining about Liquid Glass today will be complaining about that new design and praising how great the Liquid Glass UI looked… 🤷🏼‍♂️

This is just cyclical, and very annoying that people always want to raise such a stink over any little change or new thing… 🤦🏼‍♂️

While I think you have a point that there is always some complaints when things change, the difference with Tahoe is that the problems are not staying in the aesthetics area but goes into the functionality area, which is more objective.

Did you see some of the previous examples in this thread?
They show the problem with the new design and Liquid Glass is that depending on what's underneath the GUI elements, readability of those GUI elements can suffer quite a lot – and dare I say – objectively so:

The Control Center in Tahoe.

This is iOS, but still…

iOS again.

I also have a couple of examples with the App Switcher in Tahoe that I posed about on another thread here:

Do you think the readability of the text ”Finder” is good in the abover scenario?

Here the Liquid Glass effect makes the red line appear as two lines which made me react.

In the above example – which happens when you have many enough apps open so they are starting to touch the left and right edge of the screen – the text of the first and last app in the App Switcher gets misaligned. More so the more apps you open. This is new behavior that I haven't seen before Tahoe.

Definitely more visual glitches/concerns than usual this time I think.

 

[Wolf1701]

In the following thread, iOS 18 is the worst but iOS 17 is the best. If you go to an iOS 26 complaint thread, iOS 26 is now the worst and iOS 18 has become the Muhammad Ali of iOS versions, the greatest of all time.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ios-18-is-the-worst-software-apple-has-ever-released-i-wish-so-bad-i-had-stayed-on-17-7.2440548/

For some, it all boils down to the equivalent of soccer fan clubs. In reality, every change can be partly positive and partly negative. It seems that there are more and more extremists on both sides.

The reality is that Apple is not perfect regardless... thinking otherwise is fanatical. Thinking that Apple is the devil is equally fanatical. It is possible to discuss with those who do not identify with the two previous camps, but with the others it is a waste of time.

 

[Minghold]

View attachment 2598768

iOS has achieved 100% enshatification.

 

[Kal Madda]

While I think you have a point that there is always some complaints when things change, the difference with Tahoe is that the problems are not staying in the aesthetics area but goes into the functionality area, which is more objective.

Did you see some of the previous examples in this thread?
They show the problem with the new design and Liquid Glass is that depending on what's underneath the GUI elements, readability of those GUI elements can suffer quite a lot – and dare I say – objectively so:

View attachment 2598765
The Control Center in Tahoe.

View attachment 2598768
This is iOS, but still…

View attachment 2598766
iOS again.

I also have a couple of examples with the App Switcher in Tahoe that I posed about on another thread here:

View attachment 2598769
Do you think the readability of the text ”Finder” is good in the abover scenario?


View attachment 2598771
Here the Liquid Glass effect makes the red line appear as two lines which made me react.


View attachment 2598774
In the above example – which happens when you have many enough apps open so they are starting to touch the left and right edge of the screen – the text of the first and last app in the App Switcher gets misaligned. More so the more apps you open. This is new behavior that I haven't seen before Tahoe.

Definitely more visual glitches/concerns than usual this time I think.

The Control Center in Tahoe is perfectly visible and legible, I don’t see any issue with it. 🤷🏼‍♂️

The iOS buttons in the next screenshot must be purposefully scrolled into the least ideal position to make it an “issue”. This part of a page wouldn’t have even been visible before since a big solid toolbar filled that space and restricted the view of the page, so “visibility” of elements of pages in this area are actually better than in iOS 18. And as I said, this isn’t an issue unless purposefully scrolling into the worst possible position. And likewise, it is also very easily fixed by a simple scroll of the page…

Same is true for the next screenshot, it must be purposefully scrolled into the worst possible position to make it an issue. And I seem to recall the same being the case before in iOS 18 with the Status Bar. In fact, it was, you can see similar in this screenshot from iOS 18:

That Finder text not being black is a bug, not normal behavior of macOS Tahoe. It’s supposed to be in a bubble above the icon. That isn’t a problem inherent to macOS Tahoe or Liquid Glass, it’s a bug… Here’s a screenshot of it on my Mac running Tahoe, I used VNC as I’m away from it at the moment, so it turns my wallpaper solid gray. But you can see it’s supposed to be a text bubble, nothing like what is shown in the picture you shared…

What’s wrong with it showing as 2 lines due to light bending of the glass material? This line wouldn’t be visible at all before… And it’s outside the active windowing area, as the image is already blocked by the app icons in the App Dock, so I don’t get this complaint at all…

That’s another bug, not normal intended behavior for macOS Tahoe… As I said before and showed in the screenshot, it’s supposed to be in a bubble above the icon…

….

I think the problem is many of these screenshots are showing bugs, not normal intended behavior of macOS Tahoe. Others are purposefully positioned elements that wouldn’t usually naturally fall in a “trouble zone”, but people have purposefully tried to make look as bad as possible in order to affirm their biases. Try hard enough and you can make many things that normally look great look bad. It doesn’t prove that the design is bad. It just proves that people are dedicated to making the design look as if it’s bad… Two very different things… 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[fisherking]

So, you are saying that light gray text on a medium gray background somehow becomes readable? I do not think THAT fact changes very much.

am not seeing that here. where is that happening for you? sounds like something that needs to be fixed (and therefore not related to the ranting about the GUI most people are doing).

 

[fisherking]

I don't know anyone who agrees with this take. The old System Settings were much easier to navigate

that's pretty ridiculous. how many people do you know, and how often have you guys discussed this?

seriously, it's a moot point, since that was then, & this is now. i had no issue with Preferences, and no issue with Settings (which is the better one 😉)

 

[fisherking]

Some users (including myself) are sensitive to the art, alignment, consistency, clarity, simplicity, ease of use. These people are the one who scream (hard) about the new design. Some others are just don’t care about design etc. They just use the laptop or phone as a tools, nothing more.

These two obviously couldn’t agree on Tahoe’s design changes. They focus on different things. Each claims they’re the correct one.

me too! sensitive to the 'art, alignment, consistency, clarity, simplicity, ease of use.' which is why i do great video and graphics work. and i like tahoe... 👍

 

[Cape Dave]

am not seeing that here. where is that happening for you? sounds like something that needs to be fixed (and therefore not related to the ranting about the GUI most people are doing).

I was using that as an example to prove that not all RULES change because of culture. The fails of Tahoe UI/UX are far too numerous for me to track.

 

[triptolemus]

Where linux fails is things like network filesystem integration.

I'm sorry, what? Linux does that better than nearly everything else. macOS loves to drop network shares, NFS and SMB both, and Windows, well, Windows.

Finder > Go > Connect to Server... is worn the hell out on my mac.

 

[Kal Madda]

I was using that as an example to prove that not all RULES change because of culture. The fails of Tahoe UI/UX are far too numerous for me to track.

Ok, but many of the things being complained about, like round app window corners, have zero to do with accessibility or visibility concerns and are just a preference thing… And the reports of “poor visibility” of UI elements in Tahoe are greatly exaggerated… And nearly every legitimate case of poor visibility I’ve seen is a bug, not proper intended behavior of the system… 🤷🏼‍♂️. Or they’re cases of things that don’t naturally look bad, but people have very intentionally tried to make look as bad as possible… This is possible to do with lots of great designs if people try hard enough… 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[triptolemus]

While I think you have a point that there is always some complaints when things change, the difference with Tahoe is that the problems are not staying in the aesthetics area but goes into the functionality area, which is more objective.

Did you see some of the previous examples in this thread?
They show the problem with the new design and Liquid Glass is that depending on what's underneath the GUI elements, readability of those GUI elements can suffer quite a lot – and dare I say – objectively so:

View attachment 2598765
The Control Center in Tahoe.

View attachment 2598768
This is iOS, but still…

View attachment 2598766
iOS again.

I also have a couple of examples with the App Switcher in Tahoe that I posed about on another thread here:

View attachment 2598769
Do you think the readability of the text ”Finder” is good in the abover scenario?


View attachment 2598771
Here the Liquid Glass effect makes the red line appear as two lines which made me react.


View attachment 2598774
In the above example – which happens when you have many enough apps open so they are starting to touch the left and right edge of the screen – the text of the first and last app in the App Switcher gets misaligned. More so the more apps you open. This is new behavior that I haven't seen before Tahoe.

Definitely more visual glitches/concerns than usual this time I think.

You just don't know how to properly appreciate artistic expression.

(Wish the /s wasn't necessary...)

 

[Cape Dave]

Ok, but many of the things being complained about, like round app window corners, have zero to do with accessibility or visibility concerns and are just a preference thing… And the reports of “poor visibility” of UI elements in Tahoe are greatly exaggerated… And nearly every legitimate case of poor visibility I’ve seen is a bug, not proper intended behavior of the system… 🤷🏼‍♂️. Or they’re cases of things that don’t naturally look bad, but people have very intentionally tried to make look as bad as possible… This is possible to do with lots of great designs if people try hard enough… 🤷🏼‍♂️

I'll give it a try in 4-6 months.

 

[StellarVixen]

Thats why I'm sticking with Sequoia for as long as possible.

I have never in my decade and a half of using macOS skipped a release. I might have waited to .1 or .2, but never outright refused to upgrade.

macOS 26 proves there’s first time for everything.

 

[Cape Dave]

While I think you have a point that there is always some complaints when things change, the difference with Tahoe is that the problems are not staying in the aesthetics area but goes into the functionality area, which is more objective.

Did you see some of the previous examples in this thread?
They show the problem with the new design and Liquid Glass is that depending on what's underneath the GUI elements, readability of those GUI elements can suffer quite a lot – and dare I say – objectively so:

View attachment 2598765
The Control Center in Tahoe.

View attachment 2598768
This is iOS, but still…

View attachment 2598766
iOS again.

I also have a couple of examples with the App Switcher in Tahoe that I posed about on another thread here:

View attachment 2598769
Do you think the readability of the text ”Finder” is good in the abover scenario?


View attachment 2598771
Here the Liquid Glass effect makes the red line appear as two lines which made me react.


View attachment 2598774
In the above example – which happens when you have many enough apps open so they are starting to touch the left and right edge of the screen – the text of the first and last app in the App Switcher gets misaligned. More so the more apps you open. This is new behavior that I haven't seen before Tahoe.

Definitely more visual glitches/concerns than usual this time I think.

Thank you. Very definitive post.

 

[Kal Madda]

Thank you. Very definitive post.

Except that I showed what those things actually look like on macOS Tahoe in my reply… Many of those screenshots are not the normal intended behavior of macOS Tahoe, but bugs… Like the App Dock supposedly using white text underneath app icons for their names, when their names are shown in a bubble above the icon. Completely different. Others of those are situations where people intentionally tried to make things look as bad as possible. For example, the iOS example, that portion of the webpage wouldn’t have even been visible at all before in iOS 18 since a big solid toolbar blocked that whole portion of the screen. So visibility of that portion of the page is actually better than in iOS 18… And they intentionally scrolled them to overlap, it’s very easily fixed by a simple scroll of the page. It is not the issue they’re claiming it is… 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[fisherking]

I was using that as an example to prove that not all RULES change because of culture. The fails of Tahoe UI/UX are far too numerous for me to track.

so, you're talking about actual bugs, as opposed to opinions on the GUI? i'm not experiencing any serious bugs with the UI/UX, so wondering what the common denominators are for ppl who are, for example, seeing " light gray text on a medium gray background". hopefully, there are resolves for such issues...

 

[chmania]

As I mentioned here, Liquid Glass has only just begun, and with macOS Tahoe in 2025, it will improve over time. All you need to do is be patient. Apple will not revert to Aqua, as Liquid Glass is the future (for now).

Of course, you can send feedback and suggestions to Apple.

 

[Kal Madda]

As I mentioned here, Liquid Glass has only just begun, and with macOS Tahoe in 2025, it will improve over time. All you need to do is be patient. Apple will not revert to Aqua, as Liquid Glass is the future (for now).

Of course, you can send feedback and suggestions to Apple.

Exactly, it’s still early. It will undoubtedly improve over the course of the release. And they are most definitely not reverting to anything. Liquid Glass is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Especially when Windows 11 is incorporating similar design, Android, etc. It seems to be a very popular design style with everyone adopting it… 🤷🏼‍♂️