At its WWDC 2025 event, Apple pulled the curtains back on iOS 26, introducing what it called the most “expressive and delightful” design overhaul in years. The headlining act across all new OS’ is a new visual language powered by “Liquid Glass,” a dynamic, translucent material that permeates the entire user interface — from buttons and sidebars to Control Center and notifications. But behind the glossy finish lies a deeper concern: Apple, in trying to reinvent the wheel, may have rolled over some of its most core principles — clarity, simplicity, and usability.
It was Jobs who once famously said Microsoft has no taste, and now, it seems like Apple is taking a step in that very direction.
First impressions matter, and for many, iOS 26 felt less like a leap forward and more like a stumble into visual clutter. The Liquid Glass aesthetic, while striking in controlled demos, has been widely criticized in early beta testing for compromising legibility and user comfort. Developers and users alike report difficulty reading over background-dependent transparencies — an issue that persists even with accessibility settings adjusted. The intended fluidity and depth come across, to some, as a smeary visual mess that feels more like a student’s first foray into Photoshop than a world-class design evolution.
The late Steve Jobs was famous for valuing beauty, proportion, and intuitive simplicity over gimmicks. It’s hard not to wonder how he might’ve responded to iOS 26. What Apple is selling as “delightful and dynamic” feels, to many, like a regression to the overdesigned bloatware era that Jobs once derided. The parallels to Windows Vista — remembered more for its style than substance — are uncomfortably close.
More broadly, iOS 26 exemplifies Apple’s growing identity crisis. Instead of offering a platform that allows third-party developers to flourish, Apple is increasingly filling every niche with its own app, tool, or feature — regardless of demand. From Genmojis and game integrations to AI-powered visual tweaks, there’s a creeping sense that Apple is building for headlines, not for users. It’s software bloat in the name of brand expansion, not user experience, and it can be seen in multiple fronts, perhaps most notably in how they’re lagging in the AI arms race.
The unified design across all platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS — does have its merits. Consistency across devices brings aesthetic harmony. But uniformity at the cost of context-aware design is a dangerous slope. What works visually on a 65-inch TV screen doesn’t necessarily translate to a 6-inch phone. Apple’s one-size-fits-all design doctrine risks ignoring how we interact differently with each device.
It’s not all bad. The redesign of toolbars and tab bars to better conform with modern hardware curves is a subtle but thoughtful touch. The iPad, too, is finally being treated like the powerhouse its chip deserves, with refinements that could make it a more serious productivity device. And the decision to unify the OS naming structure brings clarity across Apple’s ecosystem — albeit a move that’s long overdue.
Yet, these wins are incremental in what was billed as a generational update. For a company that once made the mundane magical — whether through the kinetic bounce of an iPhone scroll or the satisfying click of an iPod wheel — iOS 26 feels surprisingly hollow. The vibe is gone, replaced by overproduced keynotes and software designed more for show than substance.
Apple desperately needs a course correction — not just in design, but in philosophy. The iPhone’s success was never just about hardware or aesthetics; it was about creating a seamless canvas for creativity, utility, and human-centered design. In recent years, the company’s obsession with controlling every part of the experience — from the wallpaper to the weather widget — has come at the cost of that foundational ethos. And the worry is that with Sam Altman betting big on AI-powered hardware, and roping in design whiz Jony Ive, they could well steal a march on Apple in times to come.
As one developer noted on X, “There was nothing that made me feel wow.” That, more than any beta bug or blurry UI, is the real problem.
Unless Apple is willing to trim the fat and go back to basics, it risks becoming what it once replaced — a legacy brand coasting on past glory, more focused on dazzling optics than meaningful innovation.
