At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, 2025, the tech giant unveiled a bold and ambitious new visual design language dubbed “Liquid Glass.” This fresh aesthetic marks the most significant redesign of Apple’s user interfaces since the iconic iOS 7 overhaul nearly a decade ago. While the Liquid Glass design brings stunning visual fluidity and a futuristic “glass-like” translucency to iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, and other Apple platforms, the reception has been mixed — particularly regarding legibility and usability.
In this article, we will explore the design principles behind Liquid Glass, analyze its impact on user experience, discuss the concerns around readability, and provide guidance on how to optimize your experience with this new interface.
What Is Liquid Glass? Understanding the Design Philosophy
Apple’s Liquid Glass UI is inspired heavily by the company’s Vision Pro spatial computing platform and is intended to unify the look and feel of Apple’s entire ecosystem, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. The core idea is to evoke the sense of fluidity and depth by mimicking the appearance of molten or liquid glass.
Key Visual Features
- Translucency and Depth: The interface layers use high levels of translucency, with blurred backgrounds and glowing highlights, creating a visual hierarchy through depth rather than sharp boundaries.
- Dynamic Light and Shadow: Lighting effects shift responsively, simulating the way light refracts and reflects through real glass surfaces.
- Smooth Animations: Transitions between screens and menus are fluid, contributing to a feeling that the UI is alive and malleable.
- Consistent Cross-Platform Look: By adopting the same visual language across devices, Apple aims to deliver a seamless and coherent experience regardless of hardware.
Visually, the effect is captivating. Buttons, sliders, menus, and even app backgrounds appear as if crafted from softly flowing, semi-transparent glass — glowing gently and subtly morphing as you interact.
The Promise: A More Expressive and Unified User Interface
Apple’s design team has long championed a balance between aesthetic appeal and functional clarity. The Liquid Glass concept is an evolution of that ethos, intended to:
- Enhance Expressiveness: By incorporating subtle light and fluidity, interfaces feel more “alive” and less static or flat.
- Improve Focus: The depth cues and translucency allow important content to stand out while background elements recede softly.
- Unify User Experience: Apple’s ecosystem has grown increasingly diverse; a shared design language reinforces brand identity and user familiarity.
Legibility Concerns: Why Some Users and Experts Are Wary
Despite its beauty and innovation, Liquid Glass has drawn criticism centered around legibility and usability, two pillars of effective UI design.
Why Legibility Matters
Good legibility ensures users can quickly and effortlessly read on-screen text and interface elements. Poor legibility leads to eye strain, misinterpretation, and overall frustration, degrading user experience — especially on devices used for long periods or in diverse lighting environments.
The Challenge with Translucency
- Background Complexity: Since the translucent glass effect blends foreground UI elements with whatever is behind them, busy or colorful backgrounds can interfere with text clarity.
- Contrast Reduction: The “glassy” overlays often reduce contrast between text and background, making reading difficult.
- Environmental Factors: In bright outdoor settings or dim indoor lighting, subtle translucency can render text nearly invisible or cause glare.
Many users have reported difficulty reading notifications, menu items, and buttons, especially those with vision impairments or older users.
Responses from Apple and the Community
Apple’s Mitigations
Apple has included an “Reduce Transparency” option under Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size. This setting makes the interface more opaque, improving contrast and readability without fully abandoning the Liquid Glass aesthetic.
Moreover, Apple continues to refine the beta releases, adjusting translucency levels and contrast based on user feedback before the final rollout expected by late 2025.
Community Feedback
The feedback from designers, developers, and everyday users is polarized:
- Supporters appreciate the fresh, modern feel and the emotional engagement the Liquid Glass UI provides. They praise the elegance and immersive qualities that differentiate Apple’s design from competitors.
- Critics argue that the visual complexity is a step backward for accessibility, potentially alienating users who prioritize function over form. Some compare it to the Windows Aero interface from the late 2000s, which was eventually toned down due to similar legibility issues.
Practical Tips: How to Adapt and Optimize Your Experience
If you plan to upgrade to iOS 26 or macOS Tahoe with Liquid Glass enabled, here are some recommendations to maintain usability:
1. Use Reduce Transparency
- Navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency and enable this feature to increase background opacity.
- This will improve text contrast and overall legibility without losing the entire glass effect.
2. Adjust Text Size and Boldness
- Increasing system font size or enabling Bold Text helps overcome low contrast issues.
- These options are also available under Accessibility settings.
3. Choose Appropriate Wallpapers
- Select simpler, darker wallpapers or backgrounds that do not clash with translucent UI layers.
- Avoid very bright or busy images that interfere with text readability.
4. Provide Feedback
- Join Apple’s beta program if possible and share your experiences with Liquid Glass usability.
- This feedback is critical for Apple to fine-tune the interface before public release.
Conclusion: Balancing Innovation and Usability
Apple’s Liquid Glass design is undeniably ambitious, pushing the boundaries of how digital interfaces can look and feel. Its emphasis on fluidity, depth, and light effects creates a unique sensory experience, heralding a new era in UI aesthetics.
However, this innovation comes with trade-offs, primarily around legibility and accessibility — core principles that define effective design. The mixed reception reflects the ongoing challenge tech companies face when balancing cutting-edge visuals with universal usability.
Apple’s proactive accessibility options and iterative improvements suggest a commitment to resolving these issues, but users should remain aware of potential challenges and utilize available tools to optimize their interaction.
As Liquid Glass evolves, it will be fascinating to see how it shapes the future of human-computer interaction and whether it sets a new standard for immersive, elegant, yet functional user interfaces.