Just to clarify something, because I think the majority of people here only know what iOS 26 looks like from the thumbnail. Below is an actual screenshot of the iOS 26 beta running on my phone.
Just like Android, things are customisable and the icons in the thumbnail are the most egregious version of the new visuals. I find it hard to believe anyone will actually use that styling tbh.
Even the non glass icons look terrible, they include some automatic blur being applied.
To be fair, icon theming was terrible in most previous betas too. I highly doubt they are focusing on that aspect pretty hard in the dev betas.
I agree! But, I also think that might be some weirdness with how the system treats lighting on the normal icons compared to ones updated with their new materials in mind.
Almost all of the 3rd party app icons I have are various levels of blurry but the system icons seem fine.
Any level of UI element transparency is hard nope from me. Based on your screenshot, it looks like Apple was listening, on that front.
Gross. Why in the world would anyone want translucent icons?
Yes I'd like to strip away my ability to quickly sort mentally by color and I'd love it if there was a background image partially visible intermixed with the thing I'm looking for. Windows phone was peak UI. I don't think transparency even needs to be a thing in an OS.
Transparency is fine if it's used for stuff like the background of a window, since you'd want tod emphasize that anyways but I have to agree that using it for icons hurts usability so much.
The icons in the article aren't even the default behavior. Mine all still have color. At least on the home screen and app drawer. The control center icons are translucent but those barely had any style before. And crucially, wifi, bluetooth etc buttons still have color to indicate status.
Microsoft changing Outlook from gold to yet another blue blob. Google changing every single goddamn app to use the same red/yellow/green/blue pallet. And now this bullshit.
I mean, outlook has themes… but I generally hate their other recent UI changes.
I’ve unironically seen both positive and negative reactions from people.
There’s an argument that increasing friction can help people addicted to their tech not get pulled in. Lots of apps designed to do that popping up with hard time limits and locks the last few years. Apple and Google are definitely aware that their design choices put them in the crosshairs at schools and employers. These sort of things pass the buck back.
Intent. One was an accident, the other is potentially criminal if I'm not wrong. I could be.
I remember when the iPhone 4 leak happened because of that phone prototype that got left behind. Everyone felt really bad for the guy, and it was widely believed that it was completely by accident.
seems incongruous to me that the NDA is that strict but the prototypes are allowed out in the wild. I guess they need real world testing somehow.
Prototypes are not allowed out in the wild anymore. There was a massive shift in policy after the iPhone 4 incident.
Breaking an NDA (allegedly) is civil, not criminal
Unless it's also a cfaa violation for exceeding access
I was thinking more this:
The Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996 makes it a federal crime to steal trade secrets, with penalties including up to 10 years in prison and substantial fines
It would be a civil matter, not criminal.
Looks like shit IMO
Kinda reminds me of Windows Aero, but with Grey as your main colour.
That example photo is with the icons set to white (or similar). By default the icons are still colorful. They showed it off during WWDC and it looks mostly good.
Wait what would you call the main color of aero?
Users could choose their own color scheme, default was a light blue.
Oh yea I forgot about that! I miss that. (The color selection, not the….everything else lol. Well, maybe the widgets too.
I’m on the beta. And I started hating it, then went to disliking it to simply not preferring it.
Being in beta, they are still making tweaks. I think, somewhat unexpectedly, the final build will be kinda nice.
What’s old is new again. “Glass” desktops and interfaces have made at least 3 rounds so far.
Windows Vista, is that you?
Comically, Vista was criticized at the time for aping Apple’s Aqua. This clearly takes a lot from Aqua honestly.
All the major designers are borrowing from each other constantly. All roads eventually lead to NeXt.
Ahhhh yes, I remember glass Opera.
I miss that and I mean more than just the Frutiger Aero aesthetics. I miss what I felt back then when opening the browser, not knowing what awaited me today but in a good way. Despite everything, tech companies promised us a digital future that wasn‘t entirely dreadful. In hindsight it was all just escapism of course and another cycle of that trend would just feel painfully cynical today. It can never be replicated. Big tech will forever be flat design at heart.
Apple Vista
If it comes with the bubbles screensaver, I'm in
Ten years later, they finally replicated my iPhone 5 jaibreak theme and widgets! Well, partially.
What was that Cydia theming app called... it was titled in leetspeak, I think?
This comment brings me way back haha. I had to look it up because I didn't remember but it was Winterboard or Dreamboard that I used on my 3rd gen iPod touch.
The difference between this and the iPhone 4 leak might just be company policy. I'm sure Apple's rules for handling prototypes got stricter after the first leak, so this guy probably broke more rules than the first, even if they did basically the same thing.
Plot twist: the Liquid Glass redesign was just a decoy they hoped would get leaked as a distraction to maintain buzz during the long delays in their secret Transparent Aluminum redesign.
Oh no, does that mean glassy look will be back the next few years? Bad legibility all over again? 😱
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
