The launch of Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 26, introduced a new design language called Liquid Glass. The interface makeover, one of Apple’s largest since the shift from skeumorphic to flat design in 2013, adds a translucent, glass-like material to Apple’s software. This is used across iOS elements, like buttons, sliders, media controls, switches, notifications, tab bars, app sidebars, and in system experiences like the Control Center, Home Screen, Lock Screen, and more.
The design itself is inspired by mixed-reality (AR/VR) devices like the Apple Vision Pro and is potentially gearing up for a future where the OS does, in fact, have to run on smart glasses — like those Apple is reportedly building.
In the meantime, the changes open the door to new ways to customize your most personal device, your iPhone, with support for things like clear icons, glassy widgets, a glassy typeface for the Lock Screen with 3D photos, and more.
Below is a collection of tips and tricks that will help you get started customizing your iPhone to take advantage of the new Liquid Glass design.
Image Credits:Apple
Liquid Glass icons
One of the biggest adjustments you can make to your Home Screen is to change your icons’ style. Ever since the introduction of iOS 14, which introduced widgets, users have been actively personalizing their Home Screen with custom icons. Typically, this was done by creating a shortcut to a given app using Apple’s Shortcuts app, then uploading the custom icon there before adding the shortcut to your Home Screen. Several iOS theming apps were also updated to take advantage of this functionality, which made the tedious process a bit easier by allowing you to select which apps you wanted to customize in bulk. These were then installed for you via a downloadable profile.
For those who didn’t want to jump through as many hoops, iOS 18 added the ability to change all your icons to a new color scheme via a built-in tool. Plus, you could set your icons to display slightly larger by removing the text label underneath.
With iOS 26, customization has been updated again with icons that can appear as light or dark glass, tinted glass, or even as clear icons.
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