Apple Liquid Glass: what’s hiding under the biggest interface design update

At WWDC 2025, Apple announced the biggest redesign of its operating systems in years. iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS are now united by a single visual language called Liquid Glass.

What is Liquid Glass

The new style is designed in the spirit of transparent glass, with dynamic glare, soft backlighting, and reaction to lighting. It is inspired by the visionOS interface developed for the Apple Vision Pro headset. Depending on the time of day, Liquid Glass changes its appearance: during the day, the interface is light, and at night, it is dark and deep.

Liquid Glass is Apple’s first universal design style that will be applied across all platforms, according to Alan Dye, vice president of user interface design. It covers everything from buttons and sliders to large UI panels and media elements.

Which devices will have Liquid Glass

Liquid Glass is already integrated into Apple’s core apps:

• iOS 26 — glass edge when swiping from the lock screen, transparent interface elements;
• macOS Tahoe 26 — updated dock, transparent top menu, glass sidebars;
• Safari, Camera, Photos, FaceTime, Apple Music, News, Podcasts — updated UI with Liquid Glass;
• watchOS, tvOS and visionOS — unified style across all devices.

Liquid Glass features a real-time reaction — the interface “comes to life” when moving and interacting with the user, creating a sense of depth and space.

Apple has already released updated APIs — developers will be able to adapt their applications to the new visual style until the end of the year, when the full release will take place.

Despite the fact that Apple has been using glass effects since 2000 (remember the Aqua style), Liquid Glass is a new stage in the company’s visual evolution. It is radically different from the “flat” design that came with iOS 7, and returns elements of volume and physical realism to the interface — now with the support of modern graphics accelerators.

Now even your Mac, as one of Apple’s designers joked, will look “like an expensive aquarium.”