Is Apple Nerfing the iPhone’s Most-Hyped Upcoming New Feature?

When Apple previewed iOS 26 last month at WWDC, the headline new feature it promised to bring to all compatible iPhones was an all-new “Liquid Glass” design.

In a nutshell, Liquid Glass brings a transparent visual effect to specific apps, docks, app folders and navigation bars. This allows you to use them while still seeing your iPhone’s background or the app you’re currently using. Basically, it just looks cool.

In the WWDC keynote, Apple explained that Liquid Glass was inspired by the design language of visionOS, which powers Apple’s Vision Pro headset.

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What’s wrong with Liquid Glass?

Shortly after Apple announced this Liquid Glass design makeover, people started voicing their concerns.

As noted by TechCrunch, the vast majority of complaints revolved around legibility. The Liquid Glass effect made certain buttons and menus that were overlaid difficult to read — they blended too much with the background.

This was especially true for those who had light colored and brighter backgrounds. And the Control Center, which became transparent and overlaid the apps on your Home Screen, became significantly more difficult to read.

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Less liquid, more frosted glass

Despite the complaints, many people loved the new look that Liquid Glass was bringing to the iPhone … and those same people aren’t too happy with this week’s news: specifically, Apple dialing back the Liquid Glass effect on certain apps.

As discovered by those running the third developer beta of iOS 26, several apps and navigation menus have a “frosted glass” instead of a “liquid glass,” which makes them easier to read but, well, doesn’t look as cool.

On X, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman wrote, “Apple dramatically turned down the Liquid Glass. I don’t like the change at all.”

Gurman followed that up by writing: “Announce a huge redesign just to throw much of it away. Apple should be allowing users to choose how much glass they want instead of just reversing by 75%. At least rename it now to Frosted Glass. Lol.”

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Is Apple really nerfing it?

It’s still too early to know, but given the changes Apple made with the latest developer beta, the signs are pointing towards Apple toning down the transparent effect. It’ll be less liquid, more frosted glass.

We’ll know more when the public betas of iOS 26 are released, which is expected in the very-near future.

As for the mass rollout of iOS 26 to the public, that’ll come after Apple announces its iPhone 17 lineup in September.

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