6 visionOS-Inspired Design Elements Coming to iOS 26

With iOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, and watchOS 26, Apple is readying to debut a caller plan that's been described arsenic taking inspiration from visionOS, the newest operating system. With WWDC coming up soon, we thought we'd instrumentality a person look astatine visionOS and immoderate of the plan details that Apple mightiness follow based connected existent rumors and leaked information.

1. Translucency

Inside Apple, the ‌iOS 26‌ redesign task is known as "Solarium," which gives america immoderate penetration into Apple's focus. A solarium is fundamentally an all-glass country that's designed to fto successful a batch of light.


Since launch, visionOS has had menus and interface elements that are translucent due to the fact that successful an AR/VR environment, radical request to beryllium capable to spot their surroundings arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable to consciousness immersed.

The translucent plan elements successful visionOS amended blend into the inheritance for an unobtrusive look, letting colour and airy from the existent satellite blend through. It's not hard to representation however this benignant of translucent plan would enactment good successful apps similar Photos, which we've already seen a mockup of.

2. Floating Navigation Bars and Menus

Floating menus and navigation bars spell close on with translucency. In visionOS, everything is fundamentally floating successful the unfastened abstraction astir you, whether you're looking astatine your surroundings done the passthrough camera, oregon a virtual world background.


In ‌iOS 26‌, Apple could replicate this effect with shading and shadowing that makes interface elements look somewhat raised implicit the contented successful the background, for a soft, blurred extent effect.


visionOS has a batch of top-aligned toolbars alternatively than bottommost bars, truthful it's imaginable we'll spot iOS shifting that mode too.

3. Rounded Buttons and Interface Elements

iOS already has rounded squares and rounded rectangles for icons, notifications, menus wrong apps, hunt bars, and each of the card-style interfaces that we're utilized to, but visionOS is adjacent rounder. The floating navigation bars successful iOS could beryllium pill-shaped with much starkly rounded edges.


visionOS besides has much melodramatic rounding astatine the corners, and the app icons are afloat round. ‌iOS 26‌ could beryllium rounder successful general, much intimately matching immoderate of the shapes successful visionOS. Leaker Jon Prosser has claimed that determination volition beryllium an enactment for circular app icons, but it's not wide if Apple would privation to spell successful that absorption for iOS due to the fact that Android has agelong utilized circular app icons. The iconic squircle has been 1 of galore plan features distinguishing iOS from Android.

4. Glassy Look

With its translucency, the visionOS interface tin look astir similar frosted glass. Apple's WWDC 2025 plan features a frosted solid rainbow with shifting pastel colors, which is possibly a hint astatine plans to follow a frosted, sea-glass-style look that's not excessively acold disconnected from what we've already got successful visionOS.


visionOS really uses a system-designed worldly that Apple calls solid for app windows. It lets light, virtual content, and objects successful the surroundings amusement done menus and windows. Glass adapts to inheritance colour and provides opposition for app contented portion besides taking into relationship people's carnal surroundings. Apple could usage a akin worldly plan successful ‌iOS 26‌.

5. Subtle Lighting Changes

In visionOS, the translucent interface elements tin interact with lighting conditions of the country the idiosyncratic is in. That doesn't construe to the iPhone, but iOS is seemingly going to person immoderate subtle airy effects that volition stress the translucency and glass-like design.


In visionOS, the windows besides formed shadows that are responsive to caput movements. That's not thing that translates to iOS, but lighting and shadiness effects that displacement erstwhile you determination your ‌iPhone‌ is simply a possibility. In fact, Prosser claims there's a glint connected the Lock Screen's Flashlight and Camera (or customized) buttons erstwhile moving the ‌iPhone‌.


Apple could usage dynamic shadowing successful apps and for widgets, and adaptive colour could further the effect by allowing interface elements to blend with wallpaper and displacement with ambient light.

6. Simplicity

For the astir part, visionOS has a simplified plan successful Apple apps, with an airier consciousness owed to the spacing that's needed to guarantee radical person capable country to look astatine a fastener to interact with it. ‌iOS 26‌ could follow streamlined navigation and paper elements for a little cluttered look.


visionOS uses cleaner fonts, bolder text, and accrued enactment height, which whitethorn oregon whitethorn not construe to iOS.


Apple is apt taking a bully look astatine navigation, paper options, and layout, due to the fact that 1 of the main aspects of the redesign is much cross-platform cohesion, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He says that ‌iOS 26‌ volition beryllium "simpler to use, faster to navigate, and easier to learn."

Design Consistency

It's not conscionable ‌iOS 26‌ that's being overhauled. The ocular changes and tweaks to menus, buttons, and navigation volition besides widen to ‌macOS 26‌, and of course, iPadOS 26. watchOS 26 and tvOS 26 volition spot plan refreshes, too.

Apple volition undoubtedly supply developers with caller plan guidelines and resources to widen the updated look to third-party apps.

WWDC Debut

The caller plan that we've been proceeding truthful overmuch astir is acceptable to beryllium unveiled astatine the WWDC keynote lawsuit connected Monday, June 9. It starts astatine 10:00 a.m. and portion Apple volition livestream it, if you can't watch, you tin travel on present connected MacRumors.com oregon connected our MacRumorsLive X account. Apple volition supply developers with the caller operating strategy updates implicit with redesign aft the keynote event, and a nationalist beta volition travel successful July. ‌iOS 26‌ and its sister updates volition motorboat to the nationalist successful September.
This article, "6 visionOS-Inspired Design Elements Coming to iOS 26" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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