Glass is complicated as a design element, give it time

[Cuesca]

I would love an option for at least iPadOS26 and MacOS26 to revert back to the old design.

 

[AlanMarron]

LG is not supposed to make anything better, it's supposed to unify all of Apple's devices as one. It is also supposed to set the future tone of content awareness, as in the future is the visibility of content consumption. That is, the glass/transparency lets the user focus on the content and let the UI disappear. This is setting up for the inevitable evolution to glass displays, wearables, holograms, etc. Why do you think Meta and Google are investing huge amounts of money into wearable companies like Gentle Monster and Meta with Ray-ban, Oakley and now investments into Luxottica (The world's largest glass manufacturer)?

I understand. But I don’t understand having content semi-disappear beneath frosted glass rather than just disappearing. To me, that makes the UI more noticeable, not less noticeable.

 

[FatLouie]

I mean it’s obvious, right? I suggested this earlier but ppl just laughed at my idea https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...distract-from-the-ai-disaster-merged.2458893/

It is something that should be seriously considered. I have no idea how long Apple was considering this LG idea, but the AI/Siri issues are on the back burner of users' minds and the media. The AI fiasco was a huge media blunder for Apple, one they could not possibly recover from; they can only distract from it now.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

I've been working in a relevant field for the better part of two decades. A good interface minimizes cognitive overhead and keeps out of the user's way. Transparent interfaces don't do that. They add visual noise and increase cognitive and perceptual demand. It doesn't matter whether it's pretty or not, and it certainly doesn't matter whether it's a technical achievement. Architects design an awful lot of aesthetically appealing buildings that end up with critical flaws once built because of their design choices. (Fallingwater House, anyone?) The point of the UI is to provide a service to the user, and transparent interfaces are bad at that. That's why people are down on Liquid Glass.

I am wondering, what you and anyone else thinks about the current control center design. I feel like it's an LG precursor but can't put my finger on why.

 

[123123123]

I am wondering, what you and anyone else thinks about the current control center design. I feel like it's an LG precursor but can't put my finger on why.

You mean the translucency? Doesn’t bug me. I don’t think many people spend much time in the control center, and the translucency is so minimal that I don’t think there’s much interference with the actual useful elements.

 

[cjsuk]

It is something that should be seriously considered. I have no idea how long Apple was considering this LG idea, but the AI/Siri issues are on the back burner of users' minds and the media. The AI fiasco was a huge media blunder for Apple, one they could not possibly recover from; they can only distract from it now.

The whole AI thing is a blunder across everything. They were pressured and compelled to do anything at any cost by the media driven by the hype from other vendors. No one has delivered a competent, reliable AI solution yet for anything. The stacked up failures are still being talked around and hidden. User uptake is low and there is little to no ROI parity with the the expenditure.

Apple need to acknowledge that situation and stop the distraction. But if they do that the entire market will crash everywhere. Literally billions will be written off, not just on Apple but Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, Tesla the lot.

No one wants to push that domino over. That’s where we are. So we get liquid glass to give us hope and hope someone else will collapse first. Which is nothing but a stain on their reputation so far.

If you look at the talk versus the capital movements of professional investors, not ETFs, private traders etc they are echoing the hype constantly to give the market enough volatility to sell to bag holders.

But at least we got an iOS UI refresh…

 

[n-evo]

And if they REALLY wanted to show off, they'd base the design on water, not glass. Make it not just transparent but also ripply!

Up to this point you’re actually describing what Mac OS X looks like. Dashboard widgets even produced waves when dropping them on the screen.

 

[jakey rolling]

People who don't understand how complicated it is to render real glass in real time won't know that it will take MANY iterations of iOS to get to point of excellence.

People who don't understand how complicated it is to install LED lights and water jets into the bottom of a toilet bowl won't know that it will take MANY iterations to get to the point of having a disco poop jacuzzi.

The real question is: why the hell is anyone spending the "iterative" effort to create something nobody asked for?

 

[AlanMarron]

People who don't understand how complicated it is to install LED lights and water jets into the bottom of a toilet bowl won't know that it will take MANY iterations to get to the point of having a disco poop jacuzzi.

The real question is: why the hell is anyone spending the "iterative" effort to create something nobody asked for?

Pat in marketing thinks it will boost sales.

 

[tim_apple]

People who don't understand how complicated it is to install LED lights and water jets into the bottom of a toilet bowl won't know that it will take MANY iterations to get to the point of having a disco poop jacuzzi.

The real question is: why the hell is anyone spending the "iterative" effort to create something nobody asked for?

Because it is beautiful! 😬