{"id":199378,"date":"2025-06-20T08:24:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T08:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/199378\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T08:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T08:24:13","slug":"liquid-glass-issues-apple-needs-to-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/199378\/","title":{"rendered":"Liquid Glass issues Apple needs to fix"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been using and testing Apple\u2019s iOS 26 Liquid Glass<\/a> design on the iPhone<\/a> ever since iOS 26 beta 1 was released, and I\u2019m happy to report that it didn\u2019t take me long to get used to the new design language. However, I did warn you that the new design might be a good reason to skip testing iOS 26 beta 1 on your own iPhone.<\/p>\n

The Liquid Glass UI is exciting to look at, and I can see why Apple<\/a> is building the design into all of its operating systems. That said, there\u2019s no way to fully deactivate it. You can reduce the transparency, but that setting applies to the entire iPhone.<\/p>\n

After days of using an iPhone running iOS 26, I\u2019ve come to realize that I want Apple to make certain tweaks to the transparency of the iOS 26<\/a> design. Also, I think Apple might want to rethink the usability of the iPhone. It\u2019ll take a while for longtime iPhone owners to get used to the simplified menus and find everything. I can\u2019t even imagine what someone who struggles with iOS 18 will go through once they inevitably update to iOS 26.<\/p>\n

Why Apple needs Liquid Glass<\/p>\n

I explained more than once that the redesign signals that Apple is preparing its software to run on new device categories. Apple wants to offer customers a familiar user interface across devices, whether it\u2019s an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Vision Pro.<\/p>\n

\tTech. Entertainment. Science. Your inbox.\t<\/p>\n

Sign up for the most interesting tech & entertainment news out there.<\/p>\n

By signing up, I agree to the Terms of Use<\/a> and have reviewed the Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n

The fluidity of Liquid Design should also make it easy for Apple to switch between iPhone\/iPad and iPad\/Mac experiences on the upcoming foldable iPhone and foldable iPad<\/a>. More importantly, the new, transparent look ensures that iPhone users are accustomed to Liquid Glass long before the first AI\/AR smart glasses from Apple arrive.<\/p>\n

A look at the following image is enough to understand where we\u2019re going:<\/p>\n

\"AndroidAndroid XR: Texting with Gemini\u2019s help. Image source: Google<\/p>\n

The image above is a look at Android XR<\/a>. We see a person using AI\/AR smart glasses to read an incoming message and instructing Gemini to respond.<\/p>\n

The digital UI elements form a layer that is projected on top of the real world. You still have to see the real world when wearing AR smart glasses, so the UI has to have some transparency. Liquid Glass prepares us for that future.<\/p>\n

Problems with Liquid Glass<\/p>\n

However, the Liquid Glass experience in iOS 26 beta 1 isn\u2019t that great, and I say that as someone already testing the new OS. Below, I\u2019ll show you a few of the big problems that Apple needs to fix by September.<\/p>\n

Notifications on the Lock Screen\"CanCan you read me now? Image source: X<\/a><\/p>\n

Transparent menus are amazing to experience in iOS 26, but they don\u2019t work everywhere. The Lock Screen is one place where the Liquid Glass experience is terrible. It\u2019s difficult to read notifications, especially if you have a bright background.<\/p>\n

The poor contrast will make it a lot harder for older people and those suffering from eyesight conditions to read notifications. Lock Screen widgets might have the same problem, especially those that have text overlaid on a bright wallpaper.<\/p>\n

The solution shouldn\u2019t be having to change your wallpaper. Instead, Apple should give us a new setting to handle the glass opacity of notifications on the Lock Screen. Again, the accessibility option to reduce transparency currently applies to the entire UI.<\/p>\n

Control Center\"ControlControl Center in iOS 18 (left) and iOS 26 (right). Image source: X<\/a><\/p>\n

The Control Center is an even bigger visual mess. I\u2019m a longtime iPhone user and I customize my Control Center experience. I know where to find the settings I need to tweak. I can find the buttons even if the background makes it harder to see them.<\/p>\n

But some people will have problems telling the Control Center buttons apart from the background. Also, seeing all the layers of the iPhone like that gives me anxiety. Everything is too crowded, overloading my senses. Something similar happens in the Music app, and I don\u2019t like it one bit.<\/p>\n

\"iOSiOS 26 Liquid Glass menus in the Music app: Transparency on\u2026 and the search icon. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR<\/p>\n

I prefer the blurred background of iOS 18, something Apple should consider for Control Center in iOS 26. We don\u2019t really need that much transparency here.<\/p>\n

One thing that\u2019s great about iOS 26 app menus is that they\u2019re much simpler than before. They don\u2019t take up the entire bottom of the screen, which means you get to see more content. But that means Apple had to hide menu options in its attempt to simplify them.<\/p>\n

The Music app (above) is a good example. I struggled to find music saved in my Library as I was going back and forth in the menu.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe confusing \u201csearch\u201d menu in the Health app. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR<\/p>\n

The same applies to the Health app. This time, the transparency isn\u2019t the problem. It\u2019s the unintuitive \u201cSearch\u201d icon that contains everything in the app. I\u2019m searching for something specific, but the search icon doesn\u2019t fit here. I associate it with online search or device search. It took me a while to realize that was the button to press to find what I was looking for.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe three-dot menu in Safari is where you\u2019ll find all the options you need. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR<\/p>\n

The same search button confused me in the Music app. Switch to Safari and you\u2019ll find a three-dot button instead of search.<\/p>\n

Blurry app icons<\/p>\n

Back to the Liquid Glass design, I have another issue with the transparency effects. This time, it concerns app icons. Here\u2019s a zoomed-in look at the Photos icon, where you can notice the layers of glass. It looks good like that.<\/p>\n

\"Zoomed-inZoomed-in the Photos app icon looks a lot better. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR<\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t see the zoomed-in version of the icon while using your iPhone. Instead, you\u2019ll see something like this, which distorts the glass effect:<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Photos app icon is too blurry and out of focus for my taste. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR<\/p>\n

Now, the icon looks blurry to me. It\u2019s out of focus. It doesn\u2019t look good. I feel like I need to clean the display, as my brain tells me it must be dirty.<\/p>\n

The same applies to other Apple apps that feature layered images. Find My, Mail, and the App Store are some examples of that.<\/p>\n

\"AppleApple apps featuring Liquid Glass design in iOS 26. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR<\/p>\n

And yes, I tried the completely transparent app icon design. I can\u2019t handle it. It\u2019s too much.<\/p>\n

App icon design isn\u2019t as big of an issue as the appearance of notifications on the Lock Screen. Some people might even like the Liquid Glass icons. I\u2019d love an option to reduce transparency just for the icons, though, which currently isn\u2019t available.<\/p>\n

Disappointing battery life<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, battery life took a hit after I updated my iPhone 14 Pro to iOS 26 beta 1. It happens with early betas, and my iPhone is approaching its third birthday.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m starting to wonder whether the Liquid Glass design in iOS 26 is impacting battery life. I disabled motion in iOS years ago, but all the transparency and the way that iOS 26 handles light could theoretically impact my phone\u2019s battery life.<\/p>\n

\"OtherOther iOS 26 beta 1 users criticized some Liquid Glass design choices. Image source: X<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll need in-depth battery tests to see how much battery life Liquid Glass consumes. After all, using the always-on display also consumes energy. But that\u2019s an optional choice. Liquid Glass isn\u2019t. A fix here would be the option to turn off transparency completely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been using and testing Apple\u2019s iOS 26 Liquid Glass design on the iPhone ever since iOS 26…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3159],"tags":[1662,1665,1666,547,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-199378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-ios","10":"tag-iphone","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114714736627010940","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}