Apple’s new design language is Liquid Glass

Apple is introducing a caller Liquid Glass plan crossed its bundle platforms today. It’s each astir adding transparency and solid radiance effects to Apple’s in-app interfaces crossed iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26.

“[It’s] our broadest plan update, ever,” says Alan Dye, Apple’s VP of quality interface. “For the archetypal clip we’re introducing a cosmopolitan plan crossed our platforms.” The caller plan adds glass-like elements passim iOS, including to the dock and the lockscreen, and it’s designed to mimic the optical qualities of glass.

Liquid Glass is inspired by Apple’s visionOS software, and tin accommodate to airy and acheronian environments. When you swipe up connected the iOS 26 fastener surface there’s a solid edge, and elements passim the OS person solid edges to them. Even the camera app has the solid feel, with menus that are transparent and features that overlay connected apical of the camera feed.

Liquid Glass uses real-time rendering and volition dynamically reacts to movement. Apple is utilizing it connected buttons, switches, sliders, text, media controls, and adjacent lager surfaces similar tab bars and sidebars. Apple has redesigned its controls, toolbars, and navigation wrong apps to acceptable this caller Liquid Glass design.

Apps similar Camera, Photos, Safari, FaceTime, Apple Music, Apple News, and Apple Podcasts person each been updated for Liquid Glass. Apple is besides utilizing Liquid Glass successful macOS Tahoe 26, with the dock, sidebars, and toolbars each getting a interaction of the solid design. The paper barroom is besides present wholly transparent successful macOS Tahoe 26, a alteration that’s designed to marque show feels bigger.

Apple is publishing an updated acceptable of APIs to let developers to commencement updating their apps, up of this caller plan update that’s launching aboriginal this year.

Apple’s displacement distant from skeuomorphism successful iOS 7 successful 2013 has near its mobile OS looking precise akin for more than 10 years, with the iOS 7 plan benignant inactive influencing the astir caller versions of iOS. Liquid Glass looks a batch different, and it’s going to unit app developers to truly set their apps successful the coming months.

Apple has utilized solid themes successful the past, astir notably with the instauration of Aqua, which archetypal appeared successful iMovie 2 successful 2000 earlier rolling retired much broadly successful Mac OS X 10.0 successful 2001. macOS 11 Big Sur besides introduced a large redesign to the macOS UI, with much rounded corners, greater usage of transparent and translucent layers, and a slew of caller icons.

Microsoft has besides been utilizing transparency effects successful its Windows operating strategy since it launched Windows Vista successful 2007, implicit with its ain Aero Glass theme. The existent mentation of Windows 11 present uses Microsoft’s Fluent Design language, which progressively has much of a absorption connected 3D, colorful, and playful elements.

Developing… you tin travel our WWDC 2025 unrecorded blog for each the latest news.