Apple’s 2025 Liquid Glass: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

Apple’s 2025 Liquid Glass: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Apple’s design journey has always captivated us, from the tactile charm of skeuomorphism to the minimalist elegance of flat design. With the recent unveiling of their new design language, "Liquid Glass," at WWDC 2025 alongside the iOS 26 developer beta, Apple once again has the design community buzzing. But does this shiny new style hold up beyond Apple's carefully curated demonstrations?

The Liquid Glass Phenomenon

Liquid Glass blends transparency, depth, and dynamic visual interactions to create interfaces that feel organic and fluid. On the surface, it's strikingly beautiful, echoing Apple's historical flair for aesthetics. But as designers who’ve navigated countless client scenarios across hospitals, institutions, and D2C industries, our first instinct was to question its practical usability—especially accessibility.

The Good: Stunning Visual Impact

There’s no denying it—Liquid Glass is visually impressive. The way Apple has packaged and presented this new design system is nothing short of brilliant. The gentle reflections, frosted transparency, and subtle animations create an immediate, delightful sense of depth. It's visually engaging, intriguing, and feels futuristic.

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In controlled environments, like Apple's polished presentations, Liquid Glass truly shines. It’s easy to see why it's already creating waves within the creative community.

The Bad: Practicality Under Question

But once you step out of that carefully controlled environment, the practical cracks start to appear. As the vibrant discussions on platforms like Reddit and Twitter highlight, Liquid Glass's biggest flaw emerges prominently in real-world applications: readability and contrast.

The transparency and reflective nature of the interface mean text and critical UI elements can become challenging to discern against varied and unpredictable backgrounds. While Apple's iOS customisation options theoretically allow users to adjust readability settings, most people expect a seamless, user-friendly experience straight out of the box. After all, who wants to spend precious time fiddling with accessibility settings just to comfortably use their phone?

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The Ugly: Accessibility at Risk

Accessibility isn’t just an optional feature—it's fundamental to good design. From our perspective as an agency always thinking about edge cases, the Liquid Glass design poses significant accessibility challenges. Users with visual impairments, those in bright outdoor settings, or even people who prefer straightforward clarity over aesthetic complexity could struggle.

Apple’s dedication to design innovation is commendable, but accessibility should never be compromised. A design that looks fantastic in ideal conditions but struggles in everyday scenarios could alienate a large segment of users, which is genuinely concerning.

^{Edited screengrab from a tweet by}^{@YourbroRishabh}⁽^{https://x.com/YourbroRishabh/status/1932347625304629328/photo/1}^{), posted on June 10, 2025.}

Conclusion: Beauty or Accessibility?

Apple’s Liquid Glass design system undoubtedly excites, impresses, and even inspires optimism about future UI trends. Yet, as we've often observed through our experience across varied client projects, beautiful design needs to be balanced with genuine usability and accessibility.

Apple has historically led the industry, setting standards for design practices that the creative community eagerly adopts. Liquid Glass is visually compelling and potentially transformative, but currently, it raises critical accessibility concerns that need addressing. Only time will tell if this new direction matures into something that seamlessly blends beauty with practicality.

Design isn’t just about dazzling visuals—it's about creating experiences accessible and enjoyable for all users. As designers and developers, we remain cautiously optimistic, eagerly watching to see how Apple evolves Liquid Glass into something as user-friendly as it is beautiful.

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