Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I’m a Pixel guy, have been for years — everyone knows it. So, you can imagine I was pretty pleased when Google unveiled Material 3 Expressive, and it looked like a refinement of the Pixel UI design that I already loved.
And then came Apple with its new Liquid Glass interface as part of iOS 26. Simply put, I thought it looked awful. It was hard to read, and the original glass effects looked clunky.
Now, though, I’ve given iOS 26 a shot. I’ve loaded it onto my iPhone 16 for a quick trip around the block and realized I was wrong. My least favorite part about Apple’s latest software isn’t the look, but what it’s done to the navigation buttons I spent years getting used to. I’m nearly ready to go back to iOS 18, and here’s why.
Liquid Glass looks actually kinda cool… once you figure it out
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
At first, Liquid Glass threw me for a loop. It automatically applied itself, well, everywhere, and I wasn’t sure how to navigate. My app icons suddenly looked like frosted glass pebbles, and most of my on-screen buttons were just a little harder to see. But after a few minutes, my eyes adjusted. I adapted to the new icons just like I had adapted when they were barely visible against dark gray backgrounds, and I quickly relearned my way around.
Once I did, I began to see how Liquid Glass is an improvement over whatever Apple called its iOS 18 design. Where that styling felt like a quick, dirty response to one of my favorite Android customizations, Liquid Glass feels considered. The app icons feel textured, and the slight difference in coloring makes it much easier to pick out which app I’m looking for — I no longer get mixed up between Spotify, Find My, and Apple Fitness.
Liquid Glass treats my app icons much, much better than iOS 18 ever did.
Of course, Liquid Glass isn’t just about recoloring app icons; it’s also about spicing up widgets and reworking the folders that adorn my home screen. On both fronts, I love what Apple is going for. I keep my home screen pretty lean, with two folders at the bottom and two widgets at the top, and Liquid Glass does just enough to minimize both of them while bringing out the details in my wallpaper.
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