The iPhone’s new glassy look has been toned down with Monday’s launch of the third developer beta of iOS 26. This follows consumer complaints that the replace made components of the consumer interface tougher to learn.
At WWDC 2025 in June, the tech large launched its new design language, generally known as Liquid Glass, which is impressed by the optical qualities of glass in the actual world, together with the way it refracts gentle and its translucent nature.
However the early model within the first developer beta of iOS 26 and the accompanying updates for Apple’s different gadgets nonetheless left room for enchancment when it comes to usability, accessibility, and legibility.
Final month, Apple fastened a number of the extra distinguished points with Liquid Glass, like the way it made the Management Middle so clear that the iPhone House Display icons and widgets shone by, creating visible litter and confusion.
Monday’s replace sees Apple taking one more step to dial issues again from an overly-glassy look in quite a few key areas. Whereas beta 2 addressed issues with the Management Middle, beta 3 shifts its focus to different areas of the cell working system, like Notifications and navigation inside Apple’s first-party apps, like Apple Music.
As an example, the navigation bar in Apple’s streaming music app now not sees the background shining by a bit, choosing a extra strong white.
Notifications are additionally much less translucent, because the background behind the textual content is darkened, growing distinction.
Whereas the modifications arguably make options simpler to learn, some customers now complain that Apple has gone too far within the different course with a return to extra of a “frosted glass” aesthetic.
Nonetheless, it’s price remembering these are simply developer betas — early variations of the cell working system that received’t be finalized till its public launch this fall. The purpose of beta software program is to permit Apple to gather suggestions, discover bugs, and handle points earlier than the software program rolls out extra broadly.
Meaning Apple might proceed to tweak the Liquid Glass look-and-feel over the approaching releases to seek out the candy spot for the brand new glassy look inside each app and display screen.
