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Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

nngroup.com

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Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#81

Post by roxolotl »

id00 wrote: post #72

All these threads about iOS 26 reminded me about something long forgotten like... the release of iOS I suggest to check the comments in this 12 years old thread [1], replace version number 7 with 26 there and realise that some things never change [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5856398

Yea I’m tempted to upgrade because I assume that people just don’t like change. But then seeing nn group doesn’t like it isn’t a great sign. Definitively going to wait and see what people say in a few months.

Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#82

Post by patrickk »

pupppet wrote: post #62

You can almost hear the meeting that spawned this. "We want the interface to get out of the user's way!" macOS 26 is even worse. Suddenly not feeling so smug when I see the Windows complaints.

More like “how do we shovel the UX of a very niche, overpriced product that barely anyone will use (Vision Pro) on everyone that uses a recent-ish Apple product?”

Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#83

Post by navindra »

npunt wrote: post #75
ano-ther wrote: post #32

Some of it (like hiding the Safari tab button in a menu) feels like Windows-11-stupid. Luckily, Apple is ok at supporting older phones, so I just have to be careful to not accidentally upgrade my SE to iOS 26. Makes me nostalgic for Apple's interface guidelines, which were very well thought through, based on evidence, and with clear principles. https://vintageapple.org/inside_r/pdf/Human_Interface_Guidel...

I initially balked at this change but realized they placed the 'all tabs' button right where the ellipsis menu is, so you can just double tap to get to your tabs. Takes the same amount of time.

Pinch gesture works as well.

Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#84

Post by windows_hater_7 »

I think there were some nice improvements like changing the cursor in iPadOS to be an arrow instead of a circle. I’m really just shocked at the number of serious bugs in the updates. My Apple Watch is sometimes 7 minutes faster than the actual time. MacOS is the worst though. I don’t remember the last time I experienced a kernel panic, but today my Mac crashed because of a DMA translation fault.

Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#86

Post by jijijijij »

whycome wrote: post #67
porcoda wrote: post #31

This update is one of the rare cases where I really dislike the new version. I’m usually happy with Apple updates, even ones the commentators dislike. This time I’m sorta agreeing with them: I don’t like the new iOS. Same with the Mac and iPad: other than being glitchy, I just don’t like the changes. It feels like my screen real estate isn’t as efficiently used, UI elements feel jumbled and the transparency makes thi…

It’s terrible from a UX standpoint. By definition, translucent elements present more potential information to a user. It makes it harder to parse certain screens. It’s a nightmare if you have subtle vision issues (where it’s not bad enough you’d need to enable accessibility options). You’re not going to “get used to it” — you’re really just adapting to a crippled interface. I think it all stems from trying to unify t…

Not even form over function, it's fucking ugly. How did this get past the draft board?

Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#87

Post by lsch1033 »

Sounds like it's the first time you know AAPL. You won't get disappointed if lower your expectations of products from such a company. I am using iPhone SE as a digital wallet / dumb phone, the new UI doesn't make it worse because it's already buggy and nonresponsive. Newer devices on your hands will perform as bad after three years.

Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#88

Post by nomel »

kevinsundar wrote: post #66
ano-ther wrote: post #32

Some of it (like hiding the Safari tab button in a menu) feels like Windows-11-stupid. Luckily, Apple is ok at supporting older phones, so I just have to be careful to not accidentally upgrade my SE to iOS 26. Makes me nostalgic for Apple's interface guidelines, which were very well thought through, based on evidence, and with clear principles. https://vintageapple.org/inside_r/pdf/Human_Interface_Guidel...

You can actually swipe up from the search field at the bottom and that will show all tabs. (If anyone is reading this from apple, that animation should be sped up). However, this doesn't work if you've scrolled down already and the bar is minimized. It literally flashes as if to acknowledge your swipe and does nothing. Also if you miss by moving your thumb just slightly lower, you'll close the app haha. They thought…

You can also swipe left and right to switch tabs, in any state.

But, as you suggest, you have to tap the url to "bring it up" so it can be safely dragged upward, which is annoying. If they polish this a bit, I think it will be very nice.

Re: Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26

#90

Post by lxgr »

prody wrote: post #59

In summary, Apple messed up, they had nothing to present this year, so they came up with a bad design and passed it off as "revolutionary". This is the kind of thing a failing company does. I'm sad, I'm an Apple fan, but they are pulling scams for years instead of actual developments.

This seems like a minority perspective, but while (or maybe because) I was really prepared to hate Liquid Glass, I actually quite like it, all in all.

I can’t speak for people with visual impairments, but for me, many of the effects actually work, and I appreciate the on average larger hit targets.

Some things, like the little icons inline of some macOS menu bar items, actually make it easier to quickly spot a given option in a long list to me.

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