Liquid Glass - What Were They Thinking?

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Paul1977

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#320380 7-Aug-2025 11:27

Just put the iOS 26 Public Beta on my iPhone and iPad, and as the thread title indicates I'm not a fan of the new Liquid Glass look. In my opinion it looks dated and gimmicky. I particularly the subtly animated reflection around the edge of icons, it makes dark icons all look like they have a thin white border.

Serious question for those who have seen it... does anyone here like the new look?

wellygary

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#3400611 7-Aug-2025 11:42

Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and enable the Reduce Transparency toggle

Paul1977

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#3400614 7-Aug-2025 11:51

wellygary:

Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and enable the Reduce Transparency toggle

Looked at that already. Doesn't get rid of the worst part (in my option) which is the pretend reflections around the edge of icons.

I hope they introduce an option to fully disable it. But knowing Apple, they won't.

Dingbatt

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#3400618 7-Aug-2025 12:11

Had a similar “Glass” icon pack on my Galaxy S10 (6+ years ago). Grew tired of it pretty quick and reverted to bold colourful theme/icons (old eyes).

So I hope the option to “opt out” is there in iOS26.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Handsomedan

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#3400620 7-Aug-2025 12:19

I've stopped liking or disliking the changes to iOS and iPadOS as nothing I say or do will change it.

In saying that, I am ambivalent about these changes.
The changes to iPad OS have been largely positive, despite the obvious Liquid effects.

iOS has been a bit hit and miss for me. Some good changes and some less than stellar changes.

Aesthetically...I'm on the fence.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

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Quinny

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#3400624 7-Aug-2025 12:24

Overall, the beta (I have it on my iPhone and older iPad) is very underwhelming. I find the glass looks okay. I like the idea of making notifications less in-your-face. The photo app changes are nice, but it's meh for such a huge number jump and annual release. I would love more apps per page ie scaling, fix the back button and non-conformity between apps, stuff like that. To me, other than the glass and small tweaks, it was nothing much.

And the bugs. The lag if it waits on face id (blank screen) is so frustrating. But its a beta so I accept it.

gehenna

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#3400673 7-Aug-2025 12:38

Feels like they don't have a solid product strategy so they're going back to what they used to be known for - design - only they also don't have a solid design strategy anymore either.

mattwnz

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#3400688 7-Aug-2025 14:30

I actually like most things about liquid glass apart from the icons. It just looks like the old version of iOS before the ios7 flat design and looks dated.. If they actually have different options such as round icons, flat icons etc it would be better. Although I like Android and do think iOS as app reliability on iOS is a lot better. But it is still only in beta.