Why Liquid Glass looks so good

[capamac]

I do agree that macOS's longtime strength and "moat" has been design. Going back to the System 7 days. Tahoe weakens this strength.

 

[transpo1]

This saddens me.

I was being a bit reductionist— it’s also the exquisite marriage between hardware and software that only Apple is capable of. Any better? 🥲😅

 

[riverguide]

when I take my glasses off or contacts out, there is blurriness. When I am on my iOS 26-infected iPad with glasses on or contacts in, there is still blurriness. Makes me squint too much. I hate it. No, my prescriptions are perfect. So is readability in iOS 18 on my ApplePhone XR.

 

[Wando64]

It's eye candy for the sake of eye candy,

Eye candy is always for the sake of eye candy

 

[Shadow Demon]

Recently updated feom 18.7.3 to 26.3 on my iPad Air M1. Honestly, i do not see much difference from 18. However, I use dark mode, bold text, motion off, reduced transparency, and increased contrast. i have used these settings for sometime so i see nothing good or bad about Liguid Glass. It is what it is. i can see that is a bigger deal in Tahoe.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Eye candy is always for the sake of eye candy

True, though there is functional eye candy..and then there is Liquid Glass.

 

[jay-A]

1. It is constantly changing, so we never get bored of it

and yet no one was asking for this, because no one was bored with flat design in its 12 years of existence. The one reason why Apple pushed liquid glass out of the door is that they had nothing else to offer.

 

[Kal Madda]

with litterally not a single person having confessed being bored with the flat design in its 12 years of existence, this is a change no one was asking for.

There were many people in the iOS 18 and iOS 26 Speculation threads in this very forum who were excited about and anticipating a new design language because the flat design was boring…

 

[jay-A]

I'm sure Apple loved it's unofficial nickname, "The Toilet Seat".

So much for 'Steve would never have greenlighted liquid glass'. Steve let the ibook out of the door, a decision which in retrospect appears a bit fuzzy. And a good wake-up-call for those who think Apple always stood at the forefront of design taste.

 

[LiquidGlassfan]

and yet no one was asking for this, because no one was bored with flat design in its 12 years of existence. The one reason why Apple pushed liquid glass out of the door is that they had nothing else to offer.

Everyone is bored of flat design; Every aspect of technology except design language has evolved in the last 12 years. We need the software to look as modern as our shiny new iphones. ☺️☺️☺️

 

[capamac]

I'm not bored of flat design.

Liquid glass is also flat, coz the display is flat. Nothing is 3D, even if you make it look false-3D like Liquid Glass, it's still 2D.

 

[amancalledsun]

Everyone is bored of flat design; Every aspect of technology except design language has evolved in the last 12 years. We need the software to look as modern as our shiny new iphones. ☺️☺️☺️

Pretty sure you don't *need* anything other than food, water, and shelter.

Perhaps you should be complaining that phone design hasn't evolved in 12 years either. Why isn't the entire phone glass to match the software?

 

[amancalledsun]

I'm not bored of flat design.

Liquid glass is also flat, coz the display is flat. Nothing is 3D, even if you make it look false-3D like Liquid Glass, it's still 2D.

Remember the whole skeuomorphic flip...this is more of the same. Skeuomorphism is good! No wait, it's bad! No wait, it's good again because we made it look like glass instead of wood or metal!

 

[amancalledsun]

Everyone is bored of flat design; Every aspect of technology except design language has evolved in the last 12 years. We need the software to look as modern as our shiny new iphones. ☺️☺️☺️

Wrong. Your assertion encompassing *everyone* is false, not just because you don't speak for everyone, but also because you can't possibly have surveyed them, and lastly because there is no necessary correlation between technological evolution and design language. Perhaps you can enlighten us on why design language should be considered part of technical innovation?

 

[capamac]

All the cars I've driven over the decades have had four wheels. I'm tired of four wheels. I want a car with like five to 11 wheels coz that's sexier and different from the same-old same-old.

 

[watakoola]

All the cars I've driven over the decades have had four wheels. I'm tired of four wheels. I want a car with like five to 11 wheels coz that's sexier and different from the same-old same-old.

You still on round wheels? Pffft. Triangular wheels are the way of the future.

 

[OddMacFan]

Computers are tools, not entertainment. Things shouldn't be changed because they're "boring," they should only be changed when there is a notable improvement. As someone who has upgraded to Tahoe twice, and then downgraded to Sequoia twice, there is no question that Tahoe (and iOS 26) is not an improvement. Yes, it is a change, but not for the better. The system (even on 26.3) is still loaded with bugs and the UI is horribly bloated. It's also slow. It may not feel slow on newer hardware (I have a 2019 MBP 16 and a M5 MBP 14), but it's needlessly chewing up cycles with eye candy which causes a performance penalty even if it's barely perceptible. This is not the kind of excellence for which Apple is historically known.

 

[Kal Madda]

Computers are tools, not entertainment. Things shouldn't be changed because they're "boring," they should only be changed when there is a notable improvement. As someone who has upgraded to Tahoe twice, and then downgraded to Sequoia twice, there is no question that Tahoe (and iOS 26) is not an improvement. Yes, it is a change, but not for the better. The system (even on 26.3) is still loaded with bugs and the UI is horribly bloated. It's also slow. It may not feel slow on newer hardware (I have a 2019 MBP 16 and a M5 MBP 14), but it's needlessly chewing up cycles with eye candy which causes a performance penalty even if it's barely perceptible. This is not the kind of excellence for which Apple is historically known.

Yeah, they should have kept software looking like it did in the good old days when it was blocky and black and white. Because software shouldn’t be changed just to make it look better… 🙄😂

And it’s just your opinion that Tahoe isn’t an improvement. I and many others disagree with that opinion. I think Liquid Glass is exactly the kind of excellence for which Apple is historically known! 🙂👍🏻

 

[OddMacFan]

Yeah, they should have kept software looking like it did in the good old days when it was blocky and black and white. Because software shouldn’t be changed just to make it look better… 🙄😂

And it’s just your opinion that Tahoe isn’t an improvement. I and many others disagree with that opinion. I think Liquid Glass is exactly the kind of excellence for which Apple is historically known! 🙂👍🏻

No, software shouldn't be changed for any reason if it negatively impacts productivity: workflows, user experience, stability, performance, etc. iOS 7's "flat" design is an example of a UI change which did not have a negative productivity impact, but Tahoe is a major regression in that regard.

While asthetic preferences may be subjective, the attention to user experience and quality control of Tahoe are objectively quite poor as mentioned in my original post.

 

[Kal Madda]

No, software shouldn't be changed for any reason if it negatively impacts productivity: workflows, user experience, stability, performance, etc. iOS 7's "flat" design is an example of a UI change which did not have a negative productivity impact, but Tahoe is a major regression in that regard.

Many were making many similar claims about iOS 7’s flat design as people are now about the new Liquid Glass. People were arguing the flat design “harmed productivity” because of text buttons that didn’t have a circle or rectangle shape around them and other such things…

Furthermore, your idea of what “negatively impacts productivity, workflows, user experience, stability, performance, etc” is subjective. I find Apple’s new versions and the new Liquid Glass design to boost those things, as do many others…

While asthetic preferences may be subjective, the attention to user experience and quality control of Tahoe are objectively quite poor as mentioned in my original post.

Wrong. It isn’t “objectively poor”. That’s again, just your opinion which you are trying to repackage and sell as “fact”… 🤦🏼‍♂️

 

[capamac]

I only like flat UIs.

I plan on switching from mac to Linux/BSD due to the awfulness of Liquid Glass.

Looking at the Thinkpad Carbon X1 as a leading contender at the moment.

People don't need mac. If Apple's gonna FAFO then fine, see ya later Apple.

 

[armhol]

It looks like garbage.

I don't interact with a transparent world. My desk isn't transparent, my keyboard isn't transparent, my paperwork isn't transparent, my tv and monitor isn't transparent. Transparency sucks.

Your home must be really, really dark!

 

[jay-A]

Everyone is bored of flat design; Every aspect of technology except design language has evolved in the last 12 years. We need the software to look as modern as our shiny new iphones. ☺️☺️☺️

Sure, like everyone was bored of Aqua when Brushed arrived, everyone ditched Brushed when Skeuomorphic arrived, everyone hated Skeuomorphic when Flat arrived? And now we're back to Aqua well, everyone was bored with Flat, that makes sense. Oh and I can already sense the leather smell of the Skeumorphic calendar app coming my way again in 2030, and everyone will rave on how modern that is 🙂

Come on. It's change for the sake of change, not for the sake of usability. Apple knows that and they're very content with going round in circles with a 20-year revolution time.

 

[Luftkopf]

No, software shouldn't be changed for any reason if it negatively impacts productivity: workflows, user experience, stability, performance, etc. iOS 7's "flat" design is an example of a UI change which did not have a negative productivity impact, but Tahoe is a major regression in that regard.

While asthetic preferences may be subjective, the attention to user experience and quality control of Tahoe are objectively quite poor as mentioned in my original post.

You’d better let the entire software industry know. I don’t think they got your memo.

I only like flat UIs.

I plan on switching from mac to Linux/BSD due to the awfulness of Liquid Glass.

Looking at the Thinkpad Carbon X1 as a leading contender at the moment.

People don't need mac. If Apple's gonna FAFO then fine, see ya later Apple.

Good for you, I can’t stand flat UIs. So dead and lifeless.

Clearly you hate using macOS, so switching to something you do like is a good idea.

 

[Diskutant]

iOS7 was the design change which had the most negative impact on productivity and readability. To this days it’s basically impossible to see what a button is, well there aren’t any buttons anymore, there is only text that might be clickable/touchable. It makes me feel depressed everytime I have to look at it. Every design before that on the Mac and iPhone was pure joy so I had fun at getting stuff done.
iOS7 and everything based on that, including Liquid Glass which is just the same design with some effects. The effects are an improvement but the core problem persists. And on Mac the Liquid Glass is so badly implemented that it’s just impossible for me to accept it.
I‘m currently trying out Linux and hope I will find some good textured and non flat designs/themes for it.