Apple has revealed Liquid Glass — a new visual style for all its operating systems

At the WWDC 2025 presentation, Apple announced a complete redesign of all its major operating systems. From now on, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS will have a single visual language — Liquid Glass. Thus, all Apple software platforms will now have a single universal amazing style.

Craig Federighi, the head of Apple’s software division, said that Apple Silicon processors have become so powerful that the company has finally been able to realize the graphic effects that previously existed only in the imagination of designers.

In his turn, Alan Dai, Apple’s vice president of interface design, called Liquid Glass the most extensive design update in the company’s history. According to him, this is the first time Apple introduces a single visual style for all its operating systems. And the main feature is glass and transparency effects that will now be everywhere: on the lock screen, in the dock, in application windows, and in menus.

Apple’s new visual style is inspired by the visionOS interface created for the headset Apple Vision Pro. Liquid Glass changes depending on the lighting: it is light during the day and becomes dark and deep at night. For example, in iOS 26, when you swipe up from the lock screen, you can see the glass edge. Various interface elements now really look like they are made of glass: with backlighting, transparency, and glare. And there are a lot of such glass edges throughout the system now — even the camera looks like it’s being viewed through a lens made of perfect glass, with transparent menus and elements superimposed over the image from the lens.

Liquid Glass is not just pretty — it reacts to movement in real time. Effects are created dynamically as you use them. Apple has applied this style to everything – buttons, toggles, sliders, text, media controls, and even larger surfaces like tabs and sidebars.

To make this work, Apple has redesigned the controls, toolbars, and navigation in its apps. Camera, Photos, Safari, FaceTime, Apple Music, Apple News, and Apple Podcasts all have the new glass shell.

The desktop macOS hasn’t been left out either: in the new version, called macOS Tahoe 26, Liquid Glass appears in the Dock, sidebars, and toolbars. And the top menu is now completely transparent, which creates a feeling of more space on the screen. Yes, now even your Mac will look like an expensive aquarium.

Over the past 10 years, the iOS design hasn’t changed too radically. Since 2013 (remember iOS 7?) Apple gradually got rid of skeuomorphism — that is, design that imitated real objects, and moved to a «flat» aesthetic. And now we see something shiny, curved, and transparent again, reminiscent of real glass. A kind of design déjà vu, but with an emphasis on modern GPUs. The new Liquid Glass concept differs significantly from the basic design principles of the last 10 years, and it will force app developers to customize their programs accordingly. Apple has already prepared an updated set of APIs so that developers can start adapting their applications to the new style before the official launch, which is scheduled for the end of the year.

By the way, glass effects — is not new for Apple. Back in 2000, it introduced the Aqua style, which appeared in iMovie 2 and then in Mac OS X 10.0 macOS Big Sur The company has already used rounded corners and transparent panels. Liquid Glass — is a logical continuation of this evolution, only now on all platforms.