One of the more obvious problems with Liquid Glass, Apple’s controversial new UI design for the iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices that was shown earlier this month at WWDC 2025, has been resolved with Monday’s release of iOS 26 Beta 2.
With a design system influenced by glass’s optical properties, such as its translucency and ability to refract light, the updated user interface updates the operating system’s appearance and feel.
Unfairly, though, early iOS 26 testers were quick
to point out the shortcomings of the redesigned design in the early developer beta. Users posted screenshots and pointed out places where Liquid Glass lacked readability and usefulness, even though the beta build is still in progress.
The fact that Liquid Glass rendered the Control Center—the menu that can be accessed by swiping down on the right side of the iPhone screen—nearly illegible was one of the customers’ main concerns. It was challenging to distinguish the buttons and sliders of the Control Center from the icons and widgets that showed beneath them on the iPhone’s Home Screen due to its semi-transparent design.
Apple fixed the Control Center issue in the most released beta by changing the background blur, which more effectively hides the Home Screen content underneath.
As many had noted, the first beta’s notifications were likewise difficult to read. Although they are slightly sharper in the revised beta, there is definitely room for improvement, particularly in terms of legibility on lighter and brighter backdrops.
Since iOS 26 will not be released to the general public until the fall, they are probably not the last changes. They do, however, show that Apple is paying attention to early customer feedback and making the necessary adjustments.
Additionally in Beta 2, Apple has made the App Store’s product pages more accessible, allowed iCloud sync for iPads using the Journaling app, provided order tracking capabilities to Apple Wallet, added an Apple Music Radio widget, and more.
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