Liquid Glass looked great in WWDC25 demos Monday, but reactions soon afterward put a few cracks in it. The new transparent and reactive design language coming to all Apple devices this fall strikes many folks as making it too hard to read information on their screens.
Many initial reactions to Liquid Glass make it look like a misstep.
“Can’t wait to not be able to read anything on my iPhone,” grumbled one user. Several others implied Apple co-founder Steve Jobs would hate the new design language.
Readability concerns take shine out of Apple’s new Liquid Glass aesthetic
You don’t have to look too hard on social media to see people’s negative reactions to Liquid Glass so far. Beyond the showcase in Monday’s WWDC25 keynote, a first look at the new design language came out later Monday in the first developer beta releases of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 (Tahoe), watchOS 26, visionOS 26 and tvOS 26. Public betas should come out in July.
First, take a look below at Apple CEO Tim Cook‘s post on X.com about Liquid Glass.
“Expressive. Delightful. But still instantly familiar,” Cook wrote.
Expressive. Delightful. But still instantly familiar.
Introducing our new software design with Liquid Glass. pic.twitter.com/8hA0q2aCTf
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 9, 2025
Then, below that, you can survey a variety of reactions in posts on X.com to the new design language. Most of the concerns center on how transparent elements make text more difficult to read and Control Center more difficult to use. And deciphering indicators like which toggles are switched on and which are switched off might prove difficult, one user pointed out.
Others invoked the memory of Jobs, imagining his wrath over Liquid Glass.
“Steve Jobs would’ve cornered you in a dark alley and beat the sh*t out of you with a metal pipe if you even SUGGESTED something like this,” another person said on X.com, thinking Jobs, never shy with an opinion, would hate Liquid Glass to the point of violence.
But opinions aren’t uniformly negative. Various design mavens see beauty in Liquid Glass, as Wired found, despite quibbles with its readability. And Brendon Bigley, who missed the keynote, finds joy in Liquid Glass as a bold act of design, despite it “looking a little shitty,” as he wrote on his Wavelengths blog. Another X.com poster points at “satisfying” animations and visual effects.
And Liquid Glass certainly could see refinements on the way to OS official releases in September.
Early users find Liquid Glass makes screens harder to read
this just seems harder to read? #ios26 pic.twitter.com/GJeHgYUHKJ
— Stammy (@Stammy) June 9, 2025
can't wait to not be able to read anything on my iPhone pic.twitter.com/P4SqgDchXV
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) June 9, 2025
It’s messy, too
This uhhhh, seems really messy and hard to read right? #WWDC25 pic.twitter.com/4lfZGJObwz
— Robert Bye (@RobertJBye) June 9, 2025
A minute of silence for all the iOS devs having to implement this design system now on their apps.#WWDC25 pic.twitter.com/BiDFuosWzk
— Jorge Castillo (@JorgeCastilloPr) June 10, 2025
Which toggles are on?
I love that we're back to 'ok but which of these toggles is on and which is off'?! in iOS pic.twitter.com/KQFwbPPHI4
— joshpuckett (@joshpuckett) June 9, 2025
Lacking consistency and attention to detail
Apple has lost their essence… their attention to detail.
Where is the corner smoothing? Where is the consistency?
R.I.P pic.twitter.com/YED0f8TMzd
— Yashwanth V. (@yashwanth941v) June 9, 2025
Invoking Steve Jobs’ wrath
steve jobs would've cornered you in a dark alley and beat the shit out of you with a metal pipe if you even SUGGESTED something like this pic.twitter.com/rQF4lGVdnU
— kitze (@thekitze) June 9, 2025
STEVE JOBS IS SPINNING SO HARD HE'S POWERING THE ELECTRICITY GRID IN CALIFORNIA pic.twitter.com/zegoLENsQD
— kitze (@thekitze) June 9, 2025
steve jobs (alive): good design is invisible@Apple: introducing "Liquid glass" #WWDC25
steve jobs (dead): NO. I didn't mean literally you morons. What are you doing?! STOP!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/D1UMwyfnLg
— Levi Jones (@Levidjones) June 9, 2025
‘Satisfying’ animations and visual effects
Let's ignore those readability concerns for a second.
Look at these satisfying Liquid Glass animations & visual effects on iOS 26. pic.twitter.com/XsVKzxqWqE
— Alvin (@sondesix) June 9, 2025
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
