Glass is complicated as a design element, give it time

[one more]

He's in charge of design, and design during his tenure (even before Liquid Glass) has increasingly had usability issues and bad design choices.

To be fair, iOS 18.5 (the latest public release) is pretty good, IMO, and what they are aiming for with LG looks promising too, so I would wait till September before giving up on it.

Meet Liquid Glass - WWDC25 - Videos - Apple Developer

Liquid Glass unifies Apple platform design language while providing a more dynamic and expressive user experience. Get to know the design...

developer.apple.com

 

[one more]

And if they REALLY wanted to show off, they'd base the design on water, not glass. Make it not just transparent but also ripply!

Well, LG is essentially that and looks and behaves just like drops of water. It does not ripple, as such, but it wiggles and morphs instead. The transparency remains.

 

[GrassShark]

To be fair, iOS 18.5 (the latest public release) is pretty good, IMO, and what they are aiming for with LG looks promising too, so I would wait till September before giving up on it.

I know this is the iOS section of the forum, but the point about design under Dye suffering extends beyond iOS.

 

[zenmacx]

Android is trash, but enjoy it anyway. It's literally malware and the UI is pretty bad.

Android and iOS are each excellent in their own ways. Using both daily over the last several years reveals they’ve become more and more alike and useful.

It’s just a matter of preferences and personal opinion that’s heavily influenced by Apples superior job of marketing.

 

[Compote]

I hate Liquid Glass, and I don't want it. I don't need my older iPhone to slump even more over debatably fancy visual effects that make the UI unusable, confusing, and unclear.

I hate the way it looks, I hate that I'll get stuck with it if I go on with Apple devices, I hate that Apple is so stupid and directionless, they let whatever doofus decide this was a good idea.

I miss the days of iOS 7, and I resent the backward creep into color gradient internet 2.0 style it has suffered for 10 years. Flat design is a superior, utilitarian design.

I don't want a glass design that failed on delivery in 2006 when Microsoft came up with Aero, and we all switched it off or downloaded mods so it wouldn't be like it was.

 

[sunapple]

I've been with Apple since the 90s, I know how they work. I have even done things for them at high levels. Apple is an iterative company, they don't randomly do things like all these other companies which show off great demos, but in reality they are fun demos.

I can also criticize them, I have many complaints. You have the right do that as well. Also no one is changing the topic, I have no idea what you're saying tbh.

Do you have any better ideas? Go ahead and spill it.

I understand your main point is to wait out the many iterations that are yet to come. While I agree that the refinements will be welcome, I think it is fair to criticise their starting point. And I would argue again that this should be a matter of months rather than years.

You mention somewhere that Android is geared towards Gen Z:

Android is also the same, the latest UI updates are pretty ugly and unusable imo. It looks like a Gen Z designers wet dream. They aren't improving quality of life.

When I watch the Liquid Glass intro from Alan Dye (YouTube) I am getting that exact feeling. Notice how it's all about "content". All UI elements need to be as clear as possible to not be too obtrusive to your webpages and TikTok video's. I so do not agree with this strategy. And they're actually backtracking with Beta 2 and 3. But this seems like a dumb starting point, to come up with a completely clear material that offers no contrast and is simply hard to see. I also find the movements throughout the buttons and sliders with the light refractions distracting. I'd give it a plain old background.

I do like how menus are morphing in shape and how their animations are smooth as butter, no question, very cool. Contextually aware UI also seems to be the answer to a unified UI across their platforms. Floating menu's take up space but look more integrated with the hardware.

How am I defensive? Capitalism allows you to do as you please. Enjoy the ride lmao

My plans to move are bigger than just the phone and I had decided on it before iOS 26, so it is not solely because of the topic at hand. But I'm starting with setting up a home network and server and moving my data away from Apple. I move my email to service A, passwords to service B, etc, preferring open source and European based. Then I'll be able to get whatever hardware I want. Like a laptop running Linux or a European designed repairable Fairphone running e/OS (Android without the Google services). I just did not want to be tied to a single company anymore and I'm happy putting in the extra effort. I'd also rather support these smaller passionate companies and initiatives. They often have the vibe you would get from Apple a very long time ago.

 

[Rradcircless]

Go to Android then, enjoy the UI.

The only thing I can fault Apple right now is how behind they are in AI (Siri still sucks), but even then, I use primarily ChatGPT + the plethora of other AI tools that keep changing every day.

Mitigate use of planet killing server based AI.

 

[ignatius345]

The UI still doesn't feel like it's ready. It needs more time to be refined.

Agree, the whole thing needs to be refined. What if -- hear me out -- what if there was a program where Apple could release an early in-progress version of an OS so that needs more time to be refined.

People would install this early version and feedback would be sent to Apple so they could improve it in subsequent versions. They'd repeat this process for a few months until the final release was refined and ready for general use.

I was even thinking of a name: they could call it a "beta" release. What do you think, too crazy?