Liquid Glass
A new chapter in Apple's visual and interaction design, making the experience of apps feel fundamentally more organic, immersive, and fluid.
A Delightful and Elegant New Software Design
Universal design across platforms brings more focus to content and a new level of vitality.
Liquid Glass is a significant new step and evolution of the look and feel of Apple software. It introduces a flexible, dynamic layer to apps and system experiences across Apple's ecosystem of products, including iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26.
Building on learnings from Aqua to visionOS, Liquid Glass is a new digital meta-material that dynamically bends and shapes light. It behaves and moves organically like a lightweight liquid, responding to both the fluidity of touch and the dynamism of modern apps.
This new material combines the optical qualities of glass with a fluidity only Apple can achieve, transforming depending on the content or context, and ultimately making even the simplest of interactions more fun and magical.
Core Principles of Liquid Glass
Discover what makes this new design language so powerful.
Lensing & Refraction
Liquid Glass uses instinctive visual cues to provide separation and communicate layering by dynamically bending, shaping, and concentrating light in real time, letting content shine through.
Fluid Motion & Interaction
The interface feels responsive, satisfying, and alive. It has an inherent gel-like flexibility that communicates its transient nature as it moves in tandem with your interaction.
Dynamic Adaptivity
Designed to be adaptive to its size and environment, Liquid Glass continuously adapts based on what's behind it to ensure legibility and maintain clear separation from the content layer.
Unified Design Language
Fundamental to creating a unified design language across all Apple platforms, including iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26, establishing harmony between hardware and software.
Developer Friendly
Developers can easily adopt the new design with an updated set of APIs for SwiftUI, UIKit, and AppKit. Standard components pick up the new appearance and behavior automatically.
Built-in Accessibility
A core tenet of Apple design. Features like Reduced Transparency, Increased Contrast, and Reduced Motion are available automatically, ensuring the experience is both beautiful and inclusive for everyone.
Designing with Liquid Glass
Key guidelines for using the new material effectively.
Best Practices
- Use for Navigation: Reserve Liquid Glass for the navigation layer that floats above your app's content (e.g., sidebars, tab bars).
- Use Fills and Vibrancy: For elements on top of Liquid Glass, use fills, transparency, and vibrancy to make them feel like a part of the material.
- Maintain Separation: In steady states, avoid intersections between content and Liquid Glass. Reposition or scale content to ensure clarity.
What to Avoid
- Don't Use in Content Layer: Including it in the content layer can result in unnecessary complexity and a confusing visual hierarchy.
- Avoid Stacking Glass on Glass: Stacking Liquid Glass elements on top of each other can quickly make the interface feel cluttered and confusing.
- Don't Tint Everything: When every element is tinted, nothing stands out. Use color selectively to bring attention to primary actions.
Why Liquid Glass Changes Everything
Experience the ultimate evolution in user interface design.
More Organic
The material illuminates from within, interacting with its flexible properties in a way that feels natural, fluid, and aligned with the physical world.
More Immersive
Floating elements like sidebars and tab bars enable a new level of immersion, giving you a larger, more expansive canvas for your content.
More Fluid
Transitions between different sections of an app feel fluid and seamless, as controls continually morph and shape shift between contexts.
Content-Focused
By establishing a clear visual hierarchy between functional elements and content, Liquid Glass brings a greater focus to what matters most in your apps.
In the Words of Apple's Designers
Hear from the team that brought Liquid Glass to life.
"Liquid glass complements the evolution of Apple product design, as screens have gotten more rounded and immersive. These clearly defined shapes feel easy to tap and are designed to relate to the natural geometry of our fingers so they feel friendly to touch interaction."
"Liquid Glass is designed from the ground up to be adaptive to both its size and its environment. Its primary goal is to remain visually clear, deferring to the content underneath. But it's also constantly, subtly changing to ensure legibility."
"The true magic of Liquid Glass lies in its holistic design. The light play, the depth effects, the adaptive changes... they are layers inside a sophisticated system, working together to create a material that is greater than the sum of its parts."
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to common questions about Liquid Glass.