It is exhausting to have a look at Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” aesthetic and never take into consideration Windows Vista, Microsoft‘s much-maligned OS which additionally touted transparencies and glass-like results as a daring new imaginative and prescient for computing. You’ll be able to see the similarities between Apple‘s UI and Vista’s “Home windows Aero” design language in every single place, from the glassified app icons in iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26 which look quite a bit like VIsta’s shiny icons, to the clear backgrounds utilized in drop down menus, which hearken again to VIsta’s clear window borders. The important thing distinction is that Apple is simply doing all of it higher. (Sorry, not sorry, Home windows followers.)
Whereas Microsoft began off with an intriguing thought, it did not execute the Home windows Aero UI properly in Vista. Principally, that is as a result of Vista itself was an enormous mess — it was far slower than Home windows XP, it was notoriously buggy and it dealt with drivers poorly. And if you happen to really wished to partake within the glory of Aero transparency bars, you wanted a pc with a strong GPU. That was much more uncommon in 2007 than it’s at present, when even built-in graphics can run fundamental 3D and fancy UI parts properly. With its homegrown chips, Apple additionally gives respectable graphics capabilities in its gadgets that help iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and different new software program releases with Liquid Glass.
It additionally helps that Liquid Glass is not actually an enormous change for Apple, in contrast to the soar from Home windows XP to Vista. Apple has been creeping in the direction of a flashier UI and extra widespread use of transparencies ever since iOS 7 was launched in 2013, which dropped the archaic skeuomorphic design development in favor of a flatter and extra fashionable aesthetic. So certain, your icons and menus might have a bit extra shine to them in iOS 26, however they largely work the way in which you keep in mind. (You possibly can additionally argue Apple itself kickstarted the transfer in the direction of transparencies in desktop working programs with the unique Mac OS X in 2001, which gave its iconic dock a shiny background.)
I can argue for the general knowledge of Apple’s Liquid Glass, at the least in comparison with Home windows Vista, and personally I additionally suppose it provides iOS a much-needed dose of character. However I can not actually persuade you in any other case if you happen to suppose it seems ugly, as a lot of my Engadget colleagues do. Senior Information Editor Avery Ellis calls it “busy and obnoxious,” and Editor-in-Chief Aaron Souppouris famous that “it really looks like Aero, rooted within the mid ’00s…. I do not want mild refracting round my pause button.” Truthful complaints! And as normal, you may also scale back transparency results and movement parts in Apple’s Accessibility Settings, if these parts really hassle you.
However after spending a little bit of time with the primary iOS 26 developer beta, I am extra intrigued by Liquid Glass than anything. It makes app icons appear to be tiny jewels that I simply wish to contact, and I dig the transparency results all through the OS — they nearly seem to be a preview for a future the place we’re utilizing holographic Apple gadgets. (That is additionally one thing I felt whereas utilizing visionOS on the Imaginative and prescient Professional, which served because the launchpad for Liquid Glass.) I additionally genuinely love iOS 26’s revamped Safari, which helps you to browse fully in full display. As you scroll down, the placement bar on the backside of your display shrinks and will get out of the way in which. However if you happen to scroll up or faucet into the placement bar, it pops again as much as provide the sharing and navigation choices you are used to.
It is also that I am a sucker for novelty. Again in my Home windows XP days, I used to make use of apps like WindowBlinds to customise the OS and add clear results. And there are indicators that Apple could also be going a bit too far with transparencies, like with the iOS 26’s Management Heart (above). It seems wonderful if you happen to’re swiping it down whereas inside an app, however if you happen to’re on the house display, it is simply one in every of many ranges of glass-like home windows. I might see that being a bit overbearing for some customers.
It’s additionally price noting that interface redesigns are sometimes rejected at first look, particularly because you’re seeing them abstracted by way of screenshots and movies. Even Apple’s slick advertising and marketing magic doesn’t replicate the expertise of utilizing Liquid Design. In my expertise, iOS 26 actually isn’t that completely different from all the pieces that got here earlier than. When you recover from the preliminary shock of a brand new interface, you may even see it with new eyes.
There’s additionally nonetheless loads of time till Apple’s new working programs arrive this fall although, and the corporate is commonly fast to tweak main design modifications if beta customers complain about them. I might see Apple firming down the Management Heart’s clear background, and even higher, giving customers extra management over the quantity of Liquid Glass parts in your display. Personally, I don’t thoughts it when firms stretch their interface beliefs a bit too far – there’s all the time room to maneuver again. That’s much better than being too conservative and by no means actually pushing your aesthetic imaginative and prescient ahead.
