On top of looking pretty, Apple says that it’s also functional. Liquid Glass UI elements will be able to expand and contract with nice-looking animations to adapt to what the app needs it to do. It also works with light and dark modes along with Apple’s new clear mode, which makes all of your icons look like glass.

Who did the glass-like design first? Was it Apple with its Aqua transparency effects in 2000, or Microsoft with its Aero Glass theme in Windows Vista in 2007? Either way, Microsoft seems to think Apple’s Liquid Glass design bears some resemblance to its glass look in Windows Media Center,

Apple revealed iOS 26 featuring Liquid Glass at WWDC 2025, but the lack of an AI killer feature left analysts questioning its competitive edge.

What I’m getting at is that the main features of watchOS 26 are the design and name. Apple Watch will get the same Liquid Glass design as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro.

At WWDC, Apple announced its new Liquid Glass design language, which is coming to all of its devices, including Macs. I’ve been tinkering with the macOS Tahoe 26 developer beta on the M4 MacBook Air for about a day. So far, the aesthetic changes range from slick to slightly overwrought, but the new Spotlight search features are nifty and useful.

Liquid Glass' will introduce glossy, translucent elements across the interface, suggesting a more immersive, fluid experience that Mark Gurman says is designed to echo the 20th anniversary iPhone that it will eventually run on.