Apple updates Liquid Glass with a transparency slider and improved readability in macOS Golden Gate and iOS 27

Here's How Liquid Glass Is Changing in iOS 27

Apple this week detailed a broad set of improvements to Liquid Glass, the translucent design language it introduced last year, spanning readability, personalization, sidebar behavior, and app icons. Announced at the WWDC 2026 keynote and elaborated on further at the Platforms State of the Union, the changes address feedback that followed last year's rollout by making adjustments to the underlying foundations of how Liquid Glass is constructed. At the core of the updates is a tuning of how the material handles content behind it. Apple has adjusted Liquid Glass so it more effectively diffuses complex content, improving readability throughout the system. To add greater depth and visual separation, Apple has also introduced a darkened edge around Liquid Glass elements, along with brighter specular highlights. The headline change for users is a new transparency slider in Settings, which allows the look of Liquid Glass to be adjusted anywhere from ultra clear to fully tinted. The control goes considerably further than a binary toggle, giving users granular control over how much the glass effect appears across the system. Apps already using Liquid Glass will gain many of these improvements automatically when running on iOS 27, without needing to be recompiled. Liquid Glass also adapts to accessibility settings such as Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast. Apple has also addressed behavior when content scrolls under floating bars. A uniform toolbar now appears across the top in these situations, keeping text legible while improving contrast. The effect is applied automatically for standard toolbars and can be further adjusted using the existing scroll edge effect APIs. Icon rendering has been updated substantially. Apple says icons will now appear sharper and more defined, with new refraction features that can be selectively applied for added character. On macOS and iPadOS, developers also now have access to an API to surface icons for key app actions in menus, which are hidden by default. Icon Composer, Apple's dedicated tool for designing app icons, has been updated to support building icons from multiple layers of Liquid Glass. New annotation features allow developers to add refraction or dial in content effects, while an interactive preview shows how a designed icon will look on earlier operating system releases. Apple has also made a number of changes specific to macOS 27 Golden Gate, including further sidebar refinements and window corner radius updates. For a full breakdown of how Liquid Glass is evolving on the Mac, see our dedicated article.Related Roundup: iOS 27Tag: Liquid GlassThis article, "Here's How Liquid Glass Is Changing in iOS 27" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

15 hours ago

All the Liquid Glass Changes in macOS Golden Gate

When Liquid Glass launched in macOS Tahoe, Apple faced criticism over how the design looked on the Mac. Some people felt that Liquid Glass in ‌macOS Tahoe‌ was an afterthought with little impact from the design update, while others had issues with contrast, readability, rounded corners, and design consistency. There were long complaint threads on the MacRumors forums and on Reddit, and some people refused to update. Apple is making several changes to Liquid Glass and the overall macOS Golden Gate design, and while subtle, some of the changes could make Liquid Glass on Mac easier to digest. Transparency and Diffusion Apple added a full Liquid Glass slider under System Settings > Appearance. It changes the translucency of Liquid Glass elements, and users can choose a clear version of Liquid Glass that allows some of the background to show through, select a more opaque, tinted version that improves the legibility of text, or choose something in between. Unfortunately, there is no ultra-clear version of Liquid Glass available with the slider. Even the setting that's as clear as possible does not match the original version of Liquid Glass that Apple showed off at WWDC 2025. Apple changed the overall Liquid Glass opacity, and it now diffuses complex content more effectively. Apple says a darkened edge and brighter specular highlights establish more depth and separation for the UI. Toolbars and Window Shapes Apps have uniform toolbars to make text headings and groups of controls more legible. Windows also all have the same corner radius for more consistency between apps. ‌macOS Tahoe‌ Corners of apps are not as dramatically rounded in ‌macOS Golden Gate‌, and the difference is noticeable. ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ It's easier to tell when a window is active because of the sidebar design, the opacity update, and changes to window shadows. Sidebars Sidebars are no longer floating and are instead edge-to-edge. It's a design that's less distracting and more uniform because there's no unnecessary sidebar shadowing that just takes up space. Sidebar icons have color again, which is something Apple removed in ‌macOS Tahoe‌. Icons Apple didn't budge on requiring squircle Mac icons, but it did change icon design. Icons have more layers of Liquid Glass to improve detail and sharpness in light, dark, tinted, and clear icon modes. Apple is also using icons for some menu bar items to make it easier to find commonly used actions. HDR Apple is using HDR for depth and dimension in the ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ interface. Launch Date ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ also includes all of the new Siri AI features coming in iOS 27, along with performance improvements that make the Mac feel faster. The update is limited to developers right now, but Apple plans to release a public beta in July. ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ will launch this fall. Related Roundup: macOS Golden GateThis article, "All the Liquid Glass Changes in macOS Golden Gate" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

1 day ago