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Designers Speak Out About Apple’s Liquid Glass Design—and Its Clarity Problem

Designers praised Liquid Glass's expressive look while raising concerns about readability, distraction, and accessibility. Apple recommends using it selectively and says 2026 releases refine diffusion and add user control, though the available sources do not show that every concern is resolved.

By ThatPainter Team 5 min read
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Designers reacting to Apple’s Liquid Glass design praised its expressive look but raised concerns about readability, distraction, and accessibility. Apple says the translucent material is meant to keep attention on app content; its developer guidance urges restraint and clear separation between navigation and content. Apple says 2026 releases refine background diffusion and let users adjust the material, but the available sources do not show that every concern has been resolved.

What is Apple’s Liquid Glass?

Apple introduced Liquid Glass in June 2025 as a translucent, dynamically rendered material for its software platforms. Apple says it responds to movement with highlights and adapts its color to surrounding content and light or dark environments. The company describes controls and navigation as a functional layer above app content, with elements such as tab bars and sidebars that can change as people navigate or scroll. Apple says the design is intended to unify its platforms and keep attention on content.

Apple’s then vice president of Human Interface Design, Alan Dye, called it “our broadest software design update ever.” That is Apple’s characterization of the redesign, not an independently measured outcome.

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What designers praised—and questioned

In interviews published after the 2025 announcement, designers expressed mixed reactions. Some found the design beautiful, fresh, or expressive, while others questioned whether the transparency and refraction made interface elements harder to read or distracting. These are individual professional opinions, not results from a controlled usability study.

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Product designer Allan Yu said, “It’s hard to read some of it,” and suggested stronger blur or different backgrounds. Josh Puckett, cofounder of Iteration, said the early presentation could be distracting or difficult to read, particularly for people with visual impairments, while expressing optimism that accessibility features could help. Serhii Popov of MacPaw liked the fresh aesthetic but wondered how it would look on Macs in bright light. Designer Adam Whitcroft argued that interface effects should not draw attention away from wider context. WIRED’s interviews with designers document both the praise and the reservations.

The central tension is between Apple’s stated goal of keeping content visible and designers’ concern that transparency can make controls less legible or draw the eye away from what matters. The interviews support the existence of that debate, but not a claim that all designers or users share one view.

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What Apple’s guidance says

Apple’s WWDC25 developer session presents Liquid Glass primarily as a material for the navigation layer floating above app content. It advises developers not to apply it to the content layer and warns that stacking glass elements can clutter an interface and confuse its hierarchy. The session describes Regular and Clear variants and says Clear needs a dimming layer to support legibility under appropriate conditions.

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Apple also describes accessibility behavior in system settings. Reduced Transparency makes the material frostier and obscures more of the content behind it. Increased Contrast makes elements predominantly black or white and adds a contrasting border. Reduced Motion reduces some effects and disables elastic behavior. These adjustments can change how the material looks; they are not evidence that every design remains equally clear in every context.

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Design consideration Apple’s guidance or description Reader takeaway
Navigation and content Use Liquid Glass for the navigation layer, not the content layer. Keep controls visually distinct from the content they sit above.
Stacked surfaces Apple warns that stacking glass elements can clutter the interface and confuse hierarchy. Use the material selectively rather than applying it to every surface.
Clear variant Apple says Clear needs a dimming layer to support legibility and has limited use conditions. Check whether controls remain readable against the actual background.
Accessibility settings Reduced Transparency, Increased Contrast, and Reduced Motion alter aspects of the material or its effects. Test the interface with these settings enabled, not only in its default presentation.

What Apple says changed in 2026

At WWDC26, Apple described refinements in that year’s releases: Liquid Glass diffuses complex background content more effectively, a settings slider lets people adjust it from ultra-clear to fully tinted, and the material adapts to accessibility settings such as reduced transparency or increased contrast. Apple also said apps already using Liquid Glass receive several improvements automatically on the new releases.

These are Apple’s descriptions of its platform updates. They do not establish that the refinements apply to older system versions or prove that the original readability and distraction concerns have disappeared.

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How to assess Liquid Glass in an interface

  1. Keep the task first. Identify the labels, controls, and content users need to find before choosing a visual effect.
  2. Separate navigation from content. Follow Apple’s guidance to keep Liquid Glass in the functional navigation layer rather than applying it to content surfaces.
  3. Use glass sparingly. Avoid stacking glass elements when that would make the interface feel cluttered or weaken hierarchy.
  4. Check legibility against real backgrounds. Test the Clear variant with the dimming treatment Apple describes and check whether controls remain readable as content changes.
  5. Test accessibility settings and motion. Review the interface with Reduced Transparency, Increased Contrast, and Reduced Motion, where available, to see how its appearance and behavior change.
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Liquid Glass in Apple’s software?

Liquid Glass is Apple’s translucent, dynamically rendered interface material. Apple says it responds to movement and adapts to surrounding content and light or dark environments, and positions it as a functional layer for controls and navigation.

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Why did designers say Liquid Glass could be hard to read?

Some designers interviewed after the 2025 announcement said transparency and refraction could make elements difficult to read or distracting. Those comments are professional reactions, not findings from a controlled usability study.

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What does Apple recommend when using Liquid Glass?

Apple’s WWDC25 developer guidance recommends using it for navigation rather than content, avoiding stacked glass surfaces that confuse hierarchy, and supporting legibility when using the Clear variant.

Did Apple refine Liquid Glass in 2026?

Apple said its 2026 releases diffuse complex backgrounds more effectively, add a slider from ultra-clear to fully tinted, and adapt the material to accessibility settings. These refinements apply to the releases Apple described and do not prove that every concern has been resolved.

The Bottom Line

Designers’ reactions to Liquid Glass reflect a real tension: a distinctive, translucent material can preserve Apple’s intended sense of content beneath controls, but it can also raise concerns about readability, hierarchy, and distraction. Apple’s developer guidance calls for restraint, and Apple says later releases add refinements and user control. The available evidence supports an ongoing design debate, not a conclusion that the material is universally successful or universally inaccessible.

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