Some customers and designers are already panning Apple’s new user interface dubbed Liquid Glass, though it’s a bit early. There are causes to suppose it would enhance — but in addition legitimate critiques.

Whereas arguably the working system design overhaul seems to be unfinished in lots of elements — notifications are too hard to read, after which there’s that monstrosity of the Management Middle overlay — what Apple has shipped to this point is the primary developer beta, not a ultimate launch. There’s nonetheless time for lots of the design methods’ present issues to be refined and corrected by the point Apple launches iOS 26 and its different OS updates to the general public later this fall.

The dramatic refresh to the iPhone’s feel and look was announced at this ’s Worldwide Builders Convention and described by Apple as its “broadest design replace ever.” Liquid Glass, the corporate defined, would span throughout Apple’s platforms, unifying the expertise of utilizing Apple units.

Impressed by Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional VR headset, Liquid Glass is so named as a result of it leverages the optical high quality of glass in its parts — it refracts gentle and options translucent supplies. The replace additionally modernizes the working system’s interface in a approach that appears clearly poised to later prolong to different units, like AR glasses.

Nonetheless, there are elements of the interface the place varied parts are just too exhausting to learn — and never just for low-vision customers (or the middle-aged). Even Apple’s press release features a picture of the Apple Music person interface, the place it’s tough to make out the artist’s title in its gentle grey font on a translucent bar. That’s regarding as a result of this can be a picture Apple accepted, which seemingly would point out that this a part of the OS replace, at the least, is completed.

Different customers are sharing related issues concerning the legibility of studying by their notifications on the iPhone’s Lock Display screen, the place, relying on the colours of your background wallpaper, the textual content turns into both simpler or more durable to learn as you scroll.

This difficulty may even be noticed within the footage of Apple’s WWDC keynote handle, the place glassy notifications appear to require a little bit of squinting to parse.

As builders and different curious tech fanatics started testing the preliminary beta, they realized the issue with studying notifications was even worse when the iPhone’s wallpaper was brighter, with lighter colours. Right here, the white textual content practically fades away into the background in elements. Possibly Apple helps us wean ourselves off our display screen time addictions?

The iOS 26 Management Middle can be virtually unusable within the first developer beta, as there’s little background blur to cover the House Display screen’s icons and widgets behind the Middle’s varied controls, buttons, and sliders. Certainly Apple designers don’t suppose that is the ultimate product? Why didn’t they at the least enhance the background blur earlier than delivery?

That is unfinished work that wants greater than a slight adjustment.

There’s room to criticize different decisions, too, like Home Screen animations that miss the mark — however these are seemingly unfinished. Or so we’d hope.

POV: You’re a tech founder with no expertise in shopper and also you rent the the primary man on Dribbble when looking “pop animation” pic.twitter.com/npYH8IqSjT

— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) June 10, 2025

Regardless of its preliminary flaws, there are indicators that the up to date design system will obtain extra consideration to element over time, even when that’s not as apparent on this first launch because of its extra obvious points.

For starters, Apple’s icons look beautiful of their new glassy model (not designed by a marketing committee this time), and a number of the results involving morphing buttons are spectacular. Shifting Liquid Glass overlays over the House Display screen blurs and stretches icons within the background as if an precise piece of glass have been being pulled over prime.

There are different refined touches that make the design’s parts really feel like glass, like the way the “Customize” button reflects the colours of the completely different wallpapers above it as you scroll by them whereas personalizing your House Display screen. The function should should be refined, but it surely’s an instance that demonstrates Liquid Glass was not some type of rush job on Apple’s half.

Even Apple’s opponents have taken discover.

“Liquid Glass … I kinda like it?” posted Nothing CEO Carl Pei on X, who not too long ago theorized that the way forward for smartphones will contain interacting with AI by the working system itself, not essentially by working apps.

Liquid Glass appears higher positioned for such a world, the place the interfaces of the apps turn into the main focus as their icons fade away into the background — even, optionally, becoming clear glass.

After all, there are issues that Apple gained’t be capable to stability the iPhone’s battery utilization that its new eye-candy calls for — particularly on older units — however we gained’t know if that’s true till the corporate ships a ultimate model of iOS.

Apple, nonetheless, tried to appease customers’ anxiousness on this entrance by explaining throughout its WWDC keynote handle that the advances it made in its {hardware}, silicon, and graphics applied sciences have paved the best way for this kind of person interface.

Plus, Apple already affords a option to toggle off a few of its more power-hungry effects and motions to save on battery life, and that may seemingly be true for Liquid Glass as properly.

It’s additionally value remembering that Apple’s final main overhaul of its cell working system, iOS 7, was equally unrefined upon its first release. The preliminary beta featured unreadable UI parts and thin lines and fonts that led to some criticism about usability and kind over perform. Over time, that design was improved, and now it’s considered simply how the iPhone’s software program seems to be — if it’s considered in any respect.

The identical will seemingly maintain true for Liquid Glass … finally.