Liquid Glass is Apple's translucent interface material, shipped on September 15, 2025, in iOS 26 and the other version 26 systems. Apps built with Xcode 26 or later get it in standard controls automatically, and the only opt-out is the temporary UIDesignRequiresCompatibility key, which iOS 27 builds ignore.
What Liquid Glass is
Liquid Glass is Apple's interface material that behaves like real glass. It is translucent, refracts and reflects what sits beneath it, and takes its color from the content. Apple unveiled it on June 9, 2025, at WWDC25 (Apple Newsroom). For the first time one design arrived at once in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26, and it shipped to everyone on September 15, 2025.
Buttons, switches, sliders, tab bars and sidebars are made of it. The Human Interface Guidelines describe it as a separate layer for controls and navigation that floats above the content, which scrolls underneath and shows through.
Where Liquid Glass lives in Xcode
There is no switch to flip. An app gets Liquid Glass when you build it with Xcode 26 or later, and standard SwiftUI, UIKit and AppKit controls change on their own (Liquid Glass overview). Custom views get the glassEffect modifier, a regular-variant capsule by default. Neighboring glass elements go into a GlassEffectContainer so they blend and morph into each other.
The temporary opt-out is the UIDesignRequiresCompatibility key set to YES in Info.plist, the Info tab of your app target in Xcode. Layered glass icons are made in Icon Composer, which comes with Xcode.
Dates and Apple's numbers
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Announced | June 9, 2025 |
| Shipped in | September 15, 2025, iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 |
| glassEffect in SwiftUI | since iOS 26.0 |
| Material variants | regular and clear |
| Dimming under clear on bright content | a dark layer at 35% opacity |
| UIDesignRequiresCompatibility key | since iOS 26.0, ignored in builds for iOS 27 and later |
| Builds for the App Store | Xcode 26 or later only, since April 28, 2026 |
| Icon Composer | macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later, Default, Dark and Mono looks |
| iOS 27 | September 14, 2026, a Liquid Glass slider in Settings |
Per Apple Newsroom, the Human Interface Guidelines, Apple documentation and App Store requirements, checked October 16, 2026.
Can you turn Liquid Glass off
Only for a while. The UIDesignRequiresCompatibility key runs the app in a compatibility mode, as if it were built against the older SDKs. Apple says the key is temporary, for the time you spend refining your UI, and that builds for iOS 27 and later ignore it (key documentation).
iOS 27 shipped on September 14, 2026. As of October 16, 2026, the App Store still accepts builds from Xcode 26, and the key works in them. Moving to Xcode 27 closes that door. iOS 27 also lets people set the glass with a slider in Settings, from ultraclear to fully tinted (Apple Newsroom), so your interface has to read well at any setting.
How to move an app to Liquid Glass
- Build the app with Xcode 26 or later and run it on an iOS 26 simulator, where standard bars and buttons are already glass.
- Remove your own colored backgrounds under tab bars and navigation bars, they fight the glass and hide the content.
- Move your floating buttons and panels to glassEffect, and group neighbors in a GlassEffectContainer.
- Use the clear variant over photos and video, with a 35% dimming layer on bright content.
- Rebuild the icon in layers in Icon Composer and check the Default, Dark and Mono looks.
- Test your screens with Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast turned on in Accessibility settings.
Common mistakes
- Glass in the content layer. The HIG says not to use Liquid Glass for backgrounds and cards, or the screen hierarchy gets muddled.
- Glass everywhere. Apple asks you to limit it to the most important elements, since extra glass pulls attention away from the content people came for.
- Clear glass on a bright background with no dimming. Text on clear glass gets lost, which is why the HIG suggests a dark 35% layer beneath it.
- Treating the compatibility key as permanent. Builds for iOS 27 ignore it, so the app gets the new look anyway, just later and unprepared.
Appto proposes two or three design directions as a live mockup inside a phone and writes the app in SwiftUI, where standard controls pick up Liquid Glass on their own. More on the design page.
Questions
What's new for Liquid Glass in iOS 27?
iOS 27 shipped on September 14, 2026, with a Settings slider that lets people pick the look of the glass, from ultraclear to fully tinted.
How do I disable Liquid Glass in Xcode 26?
Temporarily, with the UIDesignRequiresCompatibility key set to YES in Info.plist. Builds for iOS 27 and later ignore the key (Apple documentation as of October 16, 2026).
Since when does the App Store require Xcode 26?
Since April 28, 2026, App Store Connect only accepts builds from Xcode 26 or later using the iOS 26 SDK or another version 26 SDK.
What is the difference between clear and regular?
Regular blurs the background and keeps text legible, and most system controls use it. Clear is highly translucent, for photos and video, with a 35% dimming layer on bright content.
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