From Liquid Glass to Flat Design: Advancement or Regression?

Apple unveiled a sneak peek at their upcoming design update, Liquid Glass, on June 9, 2025 [1]. New icon and user interface component designs with a motion-responsive refractive transparent appearance are included in iOS 26. On July 24th, Apple made a public beta available for anyone to test out. Fall 2025 will see the release of the complete upgrade.

Apple establishes fresh operational standards at regular intervals through its market trend adjustments during each product development phase. The transition from iOS 6 to iOS 7 introduced a total overhaul of user interface design, which embraced contemporary design principles. The broad implementation of the "translucent interface trend" forces us to assess whether these modifications produce genuine advancement or if they duplicate existing design patterns.

"The new design leverages significant advancements in hardware, silicon, and graphics technologies, drawing inspiration from the depth and dimensionality of visionOS," the business claims.

In UI design, liquid glass creates the appearance of frosted or polished glass by combining light, transparency, and blur. Apple unveiled iOS 26's new design changes at WWDC 2025, which leaned on this aesthetic [2]. In particular, it will be utilized in page overlays and navigation bars. The goal is to produce sections that appear to float above the background by being soft and translucent.

Liquid Glass UI and glassmorphism are two quite different concepts that some people may confuse. Glassmorphism is a more general term for any "glassy" appearance. The quality of liquid glass is higher. Liquid Glass pays more attention to how layers add depth, how light bends, and how edges fade subtly. It feels more deliberate, more realistic, and more fluid.

UI/UX designers must evaluate the influence of Liquid Glass technology on their operational tasks because it stands as an essential matter. Your design development process requires immediate attention to integrate the emerging translucent interface trend into your work structure. We need to study this new design language more thoroughly by discussing its best practices and how to adapt Figma elements for quick prototyping and developers' attempts to recreate Liquid Glass effects with CSS.

It is also possible to replicate the layer breakup that we experimented with in Figma using CSS. For instance, to give a shape the qualities it needs, you can use the functions listed below:

• to adjust the layers' tint and transparency, use rgba().
• backdrop-filter: blur() creates the illusion of frosted glass blur.
• to add depth to shadows and interior glow, use inset box-shadow.
• order: rgba() produces delicate edges that resemble glass.

Although CSS provides the ability to create stylish glassmorphism effects developers need to understand that Apple's lensing-style animations prove difficult to reproduce through HTML and CSS alone without JavaScript frameworks.

Early adopters of the concepts of Liquid Glass may benefit greatly. Given Apple's impact, when Liquid Glass UI becomes a recognizable design aesthetic, apps and other digital product designs may begin to appear old. Let's examine several strategies for handling this change.

Revise and harmonize your brand standards

Start by coordinating brand guidelines with Apple's new visual language. Examine your present situation in light of the liquid glass principles.

After that, retrain UX teams on translucent design best practices and, if applicable, give an iOS development roadmap top priority to include translucent design components. Examine streamlined navigational patterns. Update current apps to conform to the new visual standards and conduct thorough testing on the wider variety of Apple devices.

Embrace the enhanced focus on visual hierarchy

Cleaner visual hierarchies are required for Apple's new translucent design elements and flexible user interface. For e-commerce apps, for instance, this can mean that product photos take center stage and navigation elements become less visually distracting. 

You can organically encourage user interaction with:

• Better contrast control between light and dark modes enhanced text readability 
• Dynamic backdrops that adjust to product content
• Toolbars that float and rounded corners

These elements can work together to produce more engaging experiences. This calls for fine-tuning design elements, but it also presents a chance to make the user experience more interesting.

Make your own visual design language consistent

In the future, Liquid Glass will be automatically included in standard components like IOS26 visuals, bars, sheets, popovers, and controls. These components will be dynamically adjusted by system frameworks in response to elements such as attention status and element overlap.

Large controls, for instance, will now employ capsule forms in addition to a new "X-Large size" that uses liquid glass to highlight regions that are larger.

When Liquid Glass UI offers clarity, separation, and visual refinement without overpowering the information, it works best. It will work well in the following locations:

For developers and design teams, the launch of Liquid Glass Design offers both exciting potential and challenges. To effectively use the dynamic and changeable aspect of the design, we must examine user interface design more closely.

Challenges:

• Technical complexity: Sophisticated technology and in-depth understanding of animations and transitions are necessary for implementation.
• High processing power is needed for smooth visual effects, which may affect older devices.

Options:

• New interaction models: Beyond static designs, we may produce imaginative and captivating user experiences.
• More adaptable adjustments: Regardless of screen sizes and resolutions, these designs provide an optimal display.

This paradigm forces us to reevaluate how digital ecosystems behave in their entirety.

Liquid Glass UI is more than simply a fad; it's a change in the way digital goods convey hierarchy, emotion, and depth. The difficulty will be striking a balance between usefulness and elegance while making sure that performance doesn't suffer in the name of aesthetic refinement. In any case, early adopters have the chance to try new things, develop best practices, and expand the possibilities of interfaces.

1. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/06/apple-introduces-a-delightful-and-elegant-new-software-design/ 
2. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/technologyoverviews/liquid-glass