iOS 26 is a feature-packed update, but the biggest change is easily the new Liquid Glass design. And the latest iOS 26 beta shows that despite criticism, Apple isn’t backing down from its original Liquid Glass vision.
The evolution of Liquid Glass in iOS 26 so far
Every summer, the same story plays out with Apple software:
- Apple unveils its major new releases in June.
- It iterates on features and designs throughout the summer beta cycle.
- Then the finished product ships in September.
This year, that beta cycle has been especially fun as a way to track the progress of Liquid Glass.
iOS 26’s first two betas came with some small Liquid Glass differences, but mostly the same vision was in-tact.
Beta 3, however, had many wondering if Apple was walking back its new design before it even shipped.
Liquid Glass was dialed way back in iOS 26 beta 3, to the degree that some called it “frosted glass.”
But then beta 4 arrived, ultimately becoming the public beta build too, and brought the “liquid” back in a big way.
In today’s beta 5, Liquid Glass looks largely the same as beta 4, except it’s been expanded to even more UI elements.
Today’s release makes clear that what we see now is, by and large, what Apple plans to ship.
Why Liquid Glass is unlikely to change much…for now
If you’re unfamiliar with Apple’s typical summer beta cycle, you should know that July’s first public beta build and the first beta in August tend to be particularly consequential.
The July public beta always includes changes that have been implemented in response to early feedback from developers, who have had the new OS since June.
Meanwhile the first August release tends to be the last beta with substantial changes.
That’s because in August, Apple typically shifts to focusing on bug fixes and stability ahead of the big September launch.
It’s been fun to track the back-and-forth progress of Liquid Glass throughout the beta cycle.
But other than very minor tweaks, Apple’s history with summer betas indicates the design we have now is largely locked.
Whatever critiques Liquid Glass may elicit, Apple clearly believes in its original vision and plans to ship it next month.
Of course, after iOS 26 ships to all users, there will undoubtedly be some updates that arrive later.
For example, last year’s big Photos and Mail redesigns both got a variety of refinements later on, after user feedback (i.e., complaints) started piling up.
It’s very likely we’ll see a similar story play out with iOS 26.
Even though the current Liquid Glass design seems set to ship, iOS 26.1 or 26.2 will likely include further refinements, or perhaps new tools to modify the design to each user’s liking.
But for now at least, we should all get used to the current state of Liquid Glass sticking around through the big public launch.
What are your thoughts on the current Liquid Glass design in iOS 26? Let us know in the comments.
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