# Liquid Glass

> Apple’s dynamic material: glass that refracts and bends the content behind it, reflects light, and reacts to movement.

- Category: The -morphism family
- Era: 2025–present
- Origin: Apple WWDC 2025 — iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26
- Lesson: https://design.dawit.dev/styles/liquid-glass
- Try it: https://design.dawit.dev/styles/liquid-glass?style=liquid-glass

## Where it came from

Introduced at WWDC 2025 as Apple’s biggest redesign since iOS 7, inspired by visionOS. Unlike flat glassmorphism, it simulates lensing — edges bend what is behind them — and controls float above content instead of sitting in bars. Early betas were criticised for legibility; Apple made bars more opaque during the beta cycle and added a more tinted option in iOS 26.1.

## How to spot it

- Refraction and lensing at the edges, not just blur
- Specular highlights that move with the device
- Floating, capsule-shaped controls
- Tinted by the content underneath

## Strengths

- Content stays the hero
- Feels physical and alive
- Consistent across Apple platforms

## Weaknesses

- Legibility suffers over busy content
- Hard to reproduce faithfully on the web
- GPU-heavy

## In the wild

- iOS 26 tab bars and lock screen
- macOS Tahoe sidebar
- Apple Music floating player

## Use it when

Native Apple apps, or media-first interfaces where chrome should get out of the way.

## Related styles
[Glassmorphism](https://design.dawit.dev/styles/glassmorphism.md), [Spatial / visionOS](https://design.dawit.dev/styles/spatial-visionos.md), [Apple HIG](https://design.dawit.dev/styles/apple-hig.md)