Today Apple released iOS 26 beta 3 and more for developers to download and test.
The first impresssions of iOS 26 beta 3? Many are seeing a dialled down version of Apple’s revolutionary Liquid Glass design.
Early screenshots shared by testers such as Brandon Butch, show beta 2 and beta 3 screenshots. We can clearly see the Liquid Glass effected in beta 3 is much less “glassy” than before. Check it out for yourself. Here’s iOS 26 beta 2:
…and here’s iOS 26 beta 3 which clearly shows the Liquid Glass design has been scaled back:
Of course, many are saying Apple is just tweaking iOS 26 before its final release this fall and things can always change. The readability of Liquid Glass was called into question by many early testers.
“Not sure why they dialed Liquid Glass down so much,” said one reponse to the screenshots, while others said, “Man, liquid glass totally got nerfed in beta 3.” Another person said, “Imagine spending the last 2-3 years of your life working on the Liquid Glass redesign and then…”
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also chimed in, saying, “It is incredible that Apple design decisions developed over multiple years can be influenced by a week of Twitter and YouTube commentary.”
What do you think of the state of Apple’s Liquid Glass design in iOS 26 beta 3 right now?
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I hope they'll go for the initial design but add an accessibility setting to reduce transparency. Best of both worlds.
They’re not in the business to make everyone happy.