The iPhone’s new glassy look has been toned down with Monday’s launch of the third developer beta of iOS 26. This follows person complaints that the replace made components of the person interface harder to learn.
At WWDC 2025 in June, the tech large launched its new design language, generally known as Liquid Glass, which is impressed by the optical qualities of glass in the true world, together with the way it refracts mild and its translucent nature.
However the early model within the first developer beta of iOS 26 and the accompanying updates for Apple’s different gadgets nonetheless left room for enchancment by way of usability, accessibility, and legibility.
Final month, Apple fastened a number of the extra distinguished points with Liquid Glass, like the way it made the Management Heart so clear that the iPhone House Display screen icons and widgets shone by, creating visible litter and confusion.
Monday’s replace sees Apple taking one more step to dial issues again from an overly-glassy look in quite a few key areas. Whereas beta 2 addressed issues with the Management Heart, beta 3 shifts its focus to different areas of the cellular working system, like Notifications and navigation inside Apple’s first-party apps, like Apple Music.
For example, the navigation bar in Apple’s streaming music app not sees the background shining by a bit, choosing a extra stable white.
Picture Credit:screenshot of iOS 26 beta 2 and three
Notifications are additionally much less translucent, because the background behind the textual content is darkened, growing distinction.
Picture Credit:screenshot of iOS 26 beta 2 and three
Whereas the modifications arguably make options simpler to learn, some customers now complain that Apple has gone too far within the different course with a return to extra of a “frosted glass” aesthetic.
Nonetheless, it’s value remembering these are simply developer betas — early variations of the cellular working system that gained’t be finalized till its public launch this fall. The purpose of beta software program is to permit Apple to gather suggestions, discover bugs, and tackle points earlier than the software program rolls out extra broadly.
Which means Apple may proceed to tweak the Liquid Glass look-and-feel over the approaching releases to search out the candy spot for the brand new glassy look inside each app and display.
Announce an enormous redesign simply to throw a lot of it away. Apple must be permitting customers to decide on how a lot glass they need as an alternative of simply reversing by 75%. At the least rename it now to Frosted Glass. Lol. https://t.co/obp9rWe5Ji
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) July 7, 2025
iOS 26 beta 3 that includes Diluted Glass
— Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) July 7, 2025
ios 26 beta 3 is an entire cop out, they simply rolled again the glass fairly than making it work properly. frosted glass with darkish backgrounds is what it’s now.
– Xadacka (Florian dosage) (@xadacka) July 7, 2025
They nerfed tf out of Liquid Glass in IOS 26 beta 3 because of a few of yall whining mfs
— cloud ☁️ (@cloudoca) July 7, 2025
It’s absurd what Apple is doing with Liquid Glass in iOS 26 Beta 3 🤦🏻♂️
iOS 26 is increasingly more iOS 18 by way of design. It is mindless to presume and announce a “new design” if in the long run they are going to go away 80% like iOS 18 🙄
First the CC and now the bars of … pic.twitter.com/sJx9Q06Rrm
– Omar Santiago (@santitech_) July 7, 2025
