Is Apple Liquid Glass clearly brilliant, or transparently inaccessible?
- Josh Lobo
- Jun 15
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 16
Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” interface has landed across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Touted as the company’s most significant UI overhaul in ten years, Apple Liquid Glass trades the brand’s clean, flat design aesthetic for a translucent, frosted-glass look that reflects and blurs the content behind it. It’s bold. It’s fluid. It’s very Apple. But is it also a step backwards in interface evolution?
At WWDC 2025, Apple pitched Apple Liquid Glass as "delightful and elegant," with a focus on content and a visual dynamism that’s consistent across devices. But many users and designers are raising red flags over just how user-friendly that dynamism really is.
When Transparency Becomes a Problem
Apple Liquid Glass layers are sleek, sure. But with menus, notifications and control panels now semi-transparent, readability has taken a hit. Users have pointed out that icons and text often lack contrast when displayed against blurred backgrounds, especially if the content behind them is bright or patterned.
Allan Yu, a product designer, summed up the concern succinctly: “It’s hard to read some of it… I think they made it too transparent.” Design advocates online are already questioning whether Apple has sacrificed usability for aesthetics.
Two of the most fundamental design principles, adequate colour contrast and clarity of motion, seem to have taken a back seat. WCAG guidelines, and Apple’s own Human Interface principles, require strong visual separation between text and background. But with Apple Liquid Glass, we’re seeing thin white text layered over foggy, light-toned panels. That’s not just visually confusing, it’s functionally flawed.
Compare & contrast: Google’s Material Design 3
To understand the friction here, it helps to look at what others are doing. Google’s Material Design 3 (also known as Material You) has been lauded for its customisation, clarity and human-centric approach. It adapts interfaces based on user preferences, maintains strong contrast by default, and allows depth without sacrificing legibility.
Where Apple Liquid Glass leans into aesthetic shimmer, Material You leans into usability, placing function on equal footing with form. It’s not perfect, but it’s a masterclass in progressive enhancement. Instead of forcing an aesthetic, it invites users to co-create it with their own context in mind.
When motion moves too much
Then there’s the motion. Apple Liquid Glass doesn’t just sit there. It shimmers, shifts, refracts light and moves with device orientation. For some, that adds a layer of delight. For others, it’s dizzying.
This design direction echoes the backlash to iOS 7’s parallax wallpapers. That update eventually led Apple to introduce a "Reduce Motion" setting. The company says existing features like "Reduce Transparency" and "Increase Contrast" still work with Apple Liquid Glass. Early testing confirms that these help. But again, why are the adjustments optional rather than foundational?
This isn’t about accommodating a small group of people with edge-case needs. It’s about designing for everyone, starting with the margins to benefit the mainstream. That’s the philosophy modern design has embraced. It’s the kind of thinking that helped bring features like dark mode, subtitle customisation, and voice navigation into the default UX toolset.
Design for the edges, benefit the middle
Over the past decade, digital design has matured. It now routinely asks smarter questions. How does this feel to a neurodiverse user? Is this readable outdoors? Does this animation serve a purpose, or just serve itself?
Designing for inclusion doesn’t mean designing for a niche. It means recognising that the so-called “average user” doesn’t exist. Everyone, at some point, encounters moments where they need a bit more clarity, a bit less noise, a bit more stability. Good design meets them there. Great design anticipates it.
Apple Liquid Glass, in its current state, feels like both a step forward and a step back. Forward, because it pushes the visual envelope. Back, because it disregards the core lesson of inclusive UX: that accessibility is usability.
What Apple got right, and what they risk influencing next
Credit where it’s due: Apple Liquid Glass isn’t just a visual gimmick. It reflects real design exploration. Apple’s team clearly wants to bring a sense of depth and life to digital interfaces. They want users to feel connected to the content, not just looking at flat panes.
But for that vision to truly land, the execution has to serve everyone. That means better default contrast. More control over animation. And most of all, a rethinking of how transparency works in layered interfaces.
With the power of on-device machine learning, Apple could build a UI that’s both beautiful and inclusive. One that learns, adapts and stays accessible without sacrificing style.
And let’s not ignore Apple’s outsized influence. Their design standards have set benchmarks for decades. When they make a stylistic leap, the ripple effects shape how digital products look across entire industries. If Liquid Glass becomes the new aspirational aesthetic, there’s a risk others will copy the look without questioning the trade-offs. A design-first ripple could become a usability-last wave.
Do you think Liquid Glass is the next wave of design, or have we taken a backward step?
Liquid Glass is taking us designers forward.
Liquid Glass is a backward step.
It's a bit column A, and a bit column B.
The Opportunity in the Feedback
The early backlash is a gift. It gives Apple time to adjust, iterate, and refine before Apple Liquid Glass rolls out to millions. And if they’re serious about future-forward design, they’ll treat the critique not as resistance, but as guidance.
As accessibility consultant Sheri Byrne-Haber wrote, “Accessibility doesn’t mean ugly. It just means usable.” That’s a truth every design team should have on a sticky note above their desk.
Apple Liquid Glass has potential. But only if the polish doesn’t blind the product team to the everyday experience. It’s not about standing up for the differently abled, it’s about building for everyone, every time. There’s a path forward. Let’s hope Apple takes it.
