Apple’s Liquid Glass Shatters Typography

Apple recently announced iOS 26 with its “biggest visual update in over a decade”, introducing a shiny new UI design called Liquid Glass. It feels sleek, modern, impressive – at first sight. Because the moment you try to read anything, this mirror-like interface cracks usability and breaks my typographer’s heart!

So in this article and opinionated video I don’t only want to share with you the biggest three typographic problems with iOS 26, but mostly what we can learn from it for your own UI design with some practical examples.

While we’re still in early beta territory and things will evolve until its final release in September, design trends have a way of sticking around, and I don’t want people to take an example from that. Because what looks like innovation is actually a masterclass in how not to handle text contrast in user interface design.

One of the most fundamental rules of readable design is clear text contrast. And yet, with Liquid Glass, the floating tab bar menus often fade into their background, making the active tab disappear like shy party guests.

Sure, transparency and blurred layers look slick – but not on your lock screen, once you throw a busy wallpaper behind