Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Glass Transparency toggle is what we need. Apple is making every iOS26 beta update worse by making it look more like iOS 18.

I'm a fan of Liquid Glass, except in the control center. Now the control center looks good and is better, but the rest for my taste gets worse.

It's not funny, it has lost the meaning of the name and with Beta 2 it was already readable. Now it looks like it's the copy they'll make on Android of Liquid Glass.

In my opinion, this lowering of pants by the whining of Twitter people seems to me a mistake, like the Safari navigation bar of iOS 15 that they removed (to return now)
 
  • Like
Reactions: uacd, aja_96, Neonblue and 1 other person
At first I wasn't a fan of liquid glass (I installed dev beta 1 the day of the keynote), but quickly became accustomed to it. With dev beta 3 now I find that I'm missing the true glassiness of the earlier dev betas.

I agree: a slider or even a selector that had more granularity than simply binary (on/off) would be great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Parowdy, Yvan256, UpsetTheAppleCart and 4 others
Yeah I'm very disapointed. Now iOS 26 looks almost like 18 and I don't feel a major design change as before. Previous beta looking so much better than what we see now. If it stay that way it will be one of the worst update I've seen in years.

Can't believe Apple listened all those crybabies who can't stand any changes but they are so loud that Apple think everyone don't like it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mgscheue, primarycolors, iOS Geek and 5 others
SoYoung said:
Yeah I'm very disapointed. Now iOS 26 looks almost like 18 and I don't feel a major design change as before. Previous beta looking so much better than what we see now. If it stay that way it will be one of the worst update I've seen in years.

Can't believe Apple listened all those crybabies who can't stand any changes but they are so loud that Apple think everyone don't like it.
Click to expand...
Try having a chronic disease that messes up your vestibular system. We’re not crybabies that hate change. We are people who want to use their iPhone without getting sick.
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: MisterSavage, izzy0242mr, costica1234 and 8 others
SoYoung said:
Accessibility settings are there for that. Reduce contrast and transparency should have been the solution for those who need it to be less glassy.
Click to expand...
Less glassy is not the same as a Windows 95 look. Luckily, Apple changed that now. But I think many ‘average’ users will not be very happy with an OS that is barely usable. Apple needs to comfort the general user base, not just nerds that like Liquid Glass. :))
 
  • Like
Reactions: costica1234, jonblatho, robfoll and 1 other person
Looks like it’s just light mode that was tweaked. I’m not running the beta so can’t test myself.

www.threads.com

Hasan (@hasanahmad) on Threads

iOS 26 beta 3 . Did @macrumors , @betaprofiles and @9to5mac even test beta before writing articles . Day mode Liquid Glass and night mode Liquid Glass . There is no backtracking on Liquid Glass. They just made it frosty on brighter background in light mode
www.threads.com www.threads.com
 
TechnoMonk said:
If you have chronic anxiety issues or freak out, stay away from beta. This is major change like iOS 7. iOS 7 beta phase was a roller coaster, with roll backs and slow roll out of features. Hodge podge screens with iOS 6 and 7 mixed up.
Click to expand...
iOS 7 was a complete overhaul of the ui by one of the best designers in the world (Ive). Apple just doesn’t have that level of talent anymore, or vision to guide it which is why their hardware and software design has largely stagnated. In comparison Liquid Glass is more like a pretty skin on top of iOS 18.

LG db1 definitely had amateurish legibility issues but db2 was usable in most situations. Honestly I don’t see enough difference with db3 to warrant the crash outs though I do exclusively use dark mode which is supposedly less opaque. Barring any show stopper bugs pb1 should be out soon and more people will get a look at it and can throw their 2 cents in and Apple will adjust accordingly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kylo83, cigz, aja_96 and 1 other person
gorillapox said:
iOS 7 was a complete overhaul of the ui by one of the best designers in the world (Ive). Apple just doesn’t have that level of talent anymore, or vision to guide it which is why their hardware and software design has largely stagnated. In comparison Liquid Glass is more like a pretty skin on top of iOS 18.

LG db1 definitely had amateurish legibility issues but db2 was usable in most situations. Honestly I don’t see enough difference with db3 to warrant the crash outs though I do exclusively use dark mode which is supposedly less opaque. Barring any show stopper bugs pb1 should be out soon and more people will get a look at it and can throw their 2 cents in and Apple will adjust accordingly.
Click to expand...
Ive was hardware guy, and had best work when Steve was around to rein in from going too crazy. Heck I was ready to jump from Mac after Ive went too far with 2016-2919 MBP. I don’t have great opinion about Ive, his work after jobs is sketchy at best.
Like I said, it’s too early to go roller coaster on beta, if it bothers you , lay off for your own peace. I had to deal with iOS 7 beta as a developer, it wasn’t pleasant until final beta and release candidate. I dealt with it coz I had to, but wouldn’t touch it now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ignatius345
What made Liquid Glass so great is that Liquid Glass elements had practically no silhouette unless you were directly looking at them. They had no color either. It was the bending of light behind and around them that gave them definition. That's what made the illusion work; that's why Apple's apps with full Liquid Glass adoption felt more content focused than ever. That's why the same exact material worked in both light and dark environments. Elements "disappeared" unless you were looking directly at them. It looked gorgeous, there was a tangible sense of crystalline physicality to it like real glass.

Beta 3 light mode took that philosophy and shoved it out the window. WHY!?

Suddenly many of the elements have transformed into grotesque frankensteins of pre and post liquid glass design philosophy. They have presence again, and not in a good way. Control center buttons turned into grey goo, it's the worst it has ever looked. Light mode elements in many cases look too much like white shapes with a slight transparency effect. Dark mode has been given the same cowardly treatment with a black tint. BLACK GREY and WHITE being the key words here because Liquid Glass elements should NOT have any discernible color in their default state, they should be GLASS. They should not convey weight and presence, they should be weightless and transparent. They should not call attention to themselves and their silhouette at all times, they should give way to content as much as possible.

Cowards. This was supposed to be a courage moment where they double down on their ideas. I am so disappointed. These changes should have been optional toggles for those with vision problems.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: UpsetTheAppleCart, mgscheue, Lotsacaffine and 9 others
Rogifan said:
Looks like it’s just light mode that was tweaked. I’m not running the beta so can’t test myself.

www.threads.com

Hasan (@hasanahmad) on Threads

iOS 26 beta 3 . Did @macrumors , @betaprofiles and @9to5mac even test beta before writing articles . Day mode Liquid Glass and night mode Liquid Glass . There is no backtracking on Liquid Glass. They just made it frosty on brighter background in light mode
www.threads.com www.threads.com
Click to expand...

We can't make any conclusions about whether it was just light mode because it seems like similar changes to dark mode also glitch in and out of the Music app. I'm assuming the change was applied everywhere although I'm crossing my fingers that Liquid Glass remains as-is in dark content.
 
It does feel like what should be the Accessibility option is becoming the default.

Hope Apple gives users the option. I agree the Accessibility option shouldn't necessarily need to be 'ugly', but a lot of people liked the high glass option and it's a pity it seems to be fading away with every beta, rather than being refined.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iOS Geek, aperfectcircle, Arran and 3 others
maxresdefault.jpg


Ummm... I love the visual improvements with this beta. Safari tab bar legibility on white webpages (especially on iPadOS) was awful and now it is *chef's kiss*
 
  • Like
Reactions: greg99 and fatTribble
I love db3. It's looking more and more like a deliberate UI change rather than a janky and chaotic Android theme. I hope they continue refining it in this direction. Lock screen and control center in particular look lovely.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DennisdeWit and v.kanniainen
I mean, let's be real, iOS 26 is just a re-skin of iOS 18. No major functional UX improvements.

Personally, I dislike liquid glass. So if they can't figure it out, then I'm all for going back to flat design since it's more readable.

What I really wanted was a big UX overhaul, more than a visual overhaul.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Etc_, costica1234, Kylo83 and 2 others
thatJohann said:
I mean, let's be real, iOS 26 is just a re-skin of iOS 18. No major functional UX improvements.

Personally, I dislike liquid glass. So if they can't figure it out, then I'm all for going back to flat design since it's more readable.

What I really wanted was a big UX overhaul, more than a visual overhaul.
Click to expand...
I think a visual refresh was needed, but I don't think this was the right direction.
I'm curious about what you'd change about the UX though? The UX seems fairly solid and understandable by a decent chunk of the population.
 
There shouldn’t need to be one if they design it right.

I’m in the wait and see camp. Might change again in b4
 
  • Like
Reactions: Unami
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back