From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone


Personally, I think it is a ridiculous and ugly design for an OS and
(as the article says) harks back to the bad old days of Johny Ive and
his silly flat, colourless design, but even worse.



iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users
-------------------------------------------------------
It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new
Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected.

Any major design change can create controversy as people get
used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple
Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature
more criticism than praise as people discuss the update.

Complaints
There are a long list of complaints about Liquid Glass, from
the impact on readability to lag caused by animations. Here
are some of the main critiques:
- Animations run slow, and the interface feels sluggish on
older iPhones.
- The constantly changing colors, shapes, and shading are
distracting.
- The animations make no sense.
- It looks like a Barbie phone with battery wasting
features.
- Basic actions require too many taps.
- The bubbles and floaty icons are cartoony.
- The contrast is awful.
- Some app icons look blurry.
- The design is inconsistent, and some things are flat
while some are glass.
- Highlights on UI elements are inconsistent.
- It's hard to read things like notifications.
- The effects are too subtle for the system overhead
costs.

Some People Like It
On the MacRumors forums, complaints about Liquid Glass are
interspersed with responses from people who have been using it
during beta, and the consensus is "you'll get used to it."

It does always take time to get used to a new look, and Liquid
Glass will become less jarring as people become accustomed to
the new animations and the behavior of buttons and other
interface elements.

Not everyone hates Liquid Glass, and there are also many
positive comments from people who prefer the new design. Some
of that sentiment:
- It makes the iPhone feel faster.
- It feels modern and clean, and makes a boring smartphone
a little more fun.
- It's bright, bouncy, and just plain cool to use.
- Getting notifications is satisfying, and the Lock Screen
keypad is like bubbles.
- It's fresh and easy to get accustomed to.
- iOS 18's flat UI was depressing, so rCiiOS 26rCi is an
improvement.
- It's technologically impressive with the light refraction
and diffusion of chromatic aberration.
- The icons are slick and it harkens back to the OG Apple
UI design.

Media Complaints
- The unbearable sameness of Liquid Glass

<https://www.theverge.com/apple/778197/liquid-glass-iphone-watch-ipad-mac>


- Liquid Glass Could Be One of Apple's Most Divisive System
Designs Yet

<https://www.wired.com/story/liquid-glass-could-be-one-of-apples-most-divisive-system-designs-yet/>


- This Liquid Glass Optical Illusion on iOS 26 Is Driving
Me Insane

<https://gizmodo.com/this-liquid-glass-optical-illusion-on-ios-26-is-driving-me-insane-2000659413>


- Apple's Liquid Glass: The liquid works, but the glass is
broken

<https://www.fastcompany.com/91405580/apple-liquid-glass-the-liquid-works-but-the-glass-is-broken>


iOS 7
Everyone remembers iOS 7, because it was the first big design
change that Apple made to iOS. Apple did away with skeuomorphism
in favor of a "flat" design, and it was not a change that people
were prepared for. A lot of the comments shared when iOS 7 came
out mirror the comments we're seeing now about Liquid Glass.

- iOS 7 Interface Design is so UGLY!
- The real problem with iOS 7 Design
- Does anyone dislike IOS 7 as much as I do?
- iOS 7 Bugs: Will They Ever be Fixed
- The biggest complaints about iOS 7 so far
- The design of iOS 7: simply confusing

Despite the complaints about iOS 7, Apple stuck with it. There
were ongoing refinements to fix bugs and to tweak the overall
design, but Apple didn't reverse course. Design updates in iOS 8,
iOS 9, and iOS 10 didn't change the fundamentals, but it got
better and better, and people got used to it.

Liquid Glass could follow the same path. Apple will make updates
and optimizations, but it's probably going to inform the next
decade of software releases. In discussion threads on Liquid Glass,
you'll see a lot of comments from people recalling iOS 7 and r
eminding us all that we've been here before.

Tone Down Liquid Glass
If you're having a hard time adjusting to the Liquid Glass design,
there is no opt out, but you can toggle on Reduce Transparency.

<https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ios-reduce-transparency-liquid-glass-effect/>


You can also increase your display contrast, and the two settings
together will eliminate most of the translucency that was
introduced with Liquid Glass.


<https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/17/ios-26-liquid-glass-critiques/>




--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

On 09/17/2025 20:39, Your Name wrote:

Personally, I think it is a ridiculous and ugly design for an OS and (as
the article says) harks back to the bad old days of Johny Ive and his
silly flat, colourless design, but even worse.

-a-a iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users
-a-a -------------------------------------------------------
-a-a It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new
-a-a Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected.

-a-a Any major design change can create controversy as people get
-a-a used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple
-a-a Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature
-a-a more criticism than praise as people discuss the update.

-a-a Complaints
-a-a There are a long list of complaints about Liquid Glass, from
-a-a the impact on readability to lag caused by animations. Here
-a-a are some of the main critiques:
-a-a-a-a-a - Animations run slow, and the interface feels sluggish on -a-a-a-a-a-a-a older iPhones.
-a-a-a-a-a - The constantly changing colors, shapes, and shading are -a-a-a-a-a-a-a distracting.
-a-a-a-a-a - The animations make no sense.
-a-a-a-a-a - It looks like a Barbie phone with battery wasting
-a-a-a-a-a-a-a features.
-a-a-a-a-a - Basic actions require too many taps.
-a-a-a-a-a - The bubbles and floaty icons are cartoony.
-a-a-a-a-a - The contrast is awful.
-a-a-a-a-a - Some app icons look blurry.
-a-a-a-a-a - The design is inconsistent, and some things are flat -a-a-a-a-a-a-a while some are glass.
-a-a-a-a-a - Highlights on UI elements are inconsistent.
-a-a-a-a-a - It's hard to read things like notifications.
-a-a-a-a-a - The effects are too subtle for the system overhead -a-a-a-a-a-a-a costs.

-a-a Some People Like It
-a-a On the MacRumors forums, complaints about Liquid Glass are
-a-a interspersed with responses from people who have been using it
-a-a during beta, and the consensus is "you'll get used to it."

-a-a It does always take time to get used to a new look, and Liquid
-a-a Glass will become less jarring as people become accustomed to
-a-a the new animations and the behavior of buttons and other
-a-a interface elements.

-a-a Not everyone hates Liquid Glass, and there are also many
-a-a positive comments from people who prefer the new design. Some
-a-a of that sentiment:
-a-a-a-a-a - It makes the iPhone feel faster.
-a-a-a-a-a - It feels modern and clean, and makes a boring smartphone -a-a-a-a-a-a-a a little more fun.
-a-a-a-a-a - It's bright, bouncy, and just plain cool to use.
-a-a-a-a-a - Getting notifications is satisfying, and the Lock Screen -a-a-a-a-a-a-a keypad is like bubbles.
-a-a-a-a-a - It's fresh and easy to get accustomed to.
-a-a-a-a-a - iOS 18's flat UI was depressing, so rCiiOS 26rCi is an -a-a-a-a-a-a-a improvement.
-a-a-a-a-a - It's technologically impressive with the light refraction -a-a-a-a-a-a-a and diffusion of chromatic aberration.
-a-a-a-a-a - The icons are slick and it harkens back to the OG Apple -a-a-a-a-a-a-a UI design.

-a-a Media Complaints
-a-a-a-a-a - The unbearable sameness of Liquid Glass
-a-a-a-a-a-a-a <https://www.theverge.com/apple/778197/liquid-glass-iphone- watch-ipad-mac>

-a-a-a-a-a - Liquid Glass Could Be One of Apple's Most Divisive System -a-a-a-a-a-a-a Designs Yet
-a-a-a-a-a-a-a <https://www.wired.com/story/liquid-glass-could-be-one-of- apples-most-divisive-system-designs-yet/>

-a-a-a-a-a - This Liquid Glass Optical Illusion on iOS 26 Is Driving -a-a-a-a-a-a-a Me Insane
-a-a-a-a-a-a-a <https://gizmodo.com/this-liquid-glass-optical-illusion-on- ios-26-is-driving-me-insane-2000659413>

-a-a-a-a-a - Apple's Liquid Glass: The liquid works, but the glass is -a-a-a-a-a-a-a broken
-a-a-a-a-a-a-a <https://www.fastcompany.com/91405580/apple-liquid-glass-the- liquid-works-but-the-glass-is-broken>

-a-a iOS 7
-a-a Everyone remembers iOS 7, because it was the first big design
-a-a change that Apple made to iOS. Apple did away with skeuomorphism
-a-a in favor of a "flat" design, and it was not a change that people
-a-a were prepared for. A lot of the comments shared when iOS 7 came
-a-a out mirror the comments we're seeing now about Liquid Glass.

-a-a-a-a-a - iOS 7 Interface Design is so UGLY!
-a-a-a-a-a - The real problem with iOS 7 Design
-a-a-a-a-a - Does anyone dislike IOS 7 as much as I do?
-a-a-a-a-a - iOS 7 Bugs: Will They Ever be Fixed
-a-a-a-a-a - The biggest complaints about iOS 7 so far
-a-a-a-a-a - The design of iOS 7: simply confusing

-a-a Despite the complaints about iOS 7, Apple stuck with it. There
-a-a were ongoing refinements to fix bugs and to tweak the overall
-a-a design, but Apple didn't reverse course. Design updates in iOS 8,
-a-a iOS 9, and iOS 10 didn't change the fundamentals, but it got
-a-a better and better, and people got used to it.

-a-a Liquid Glass could follow the same path. Apple will make updates
-a-a and optimizations, but it's probably going to inform the next
-a-a decade of software releases. In discussion threads on Liquid Glass,
-a-a you'll see a lot of comments from people recalling iOS 7 and r
-a-a eminding us all that we've been here before.

-a-a Tone Down Liquid Glass
-a-a If you're having a hard time adjusting to the Liquid Glass design,
-a-a there is no opt out, but you can toggle on Reduce Transparency.
-a-a <https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ios-reduce-transparency-liquid- glass-effect/>

-a-a You can also increase your display contrast, and the two settings
-a-a together will eliminate most of the translucency that was
-a-a introduced with Liquid Glass.

-a-a <https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/17/ios-26-liquid-glass-critiques/>

Now if I could just figure out how to reduce the icon sizes and get rid
of that awful Search bar hovering over everything.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2