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Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

alastair.is

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Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#131

Post by paradox460 »

senkora wrote: post #13
integralid wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to be outraged at apple, but I really can't. Read WinAPI documentation and try to count all "reserved" parameters for example. OS developers build features just for internal use all the time. Granted, this is just UI tweak so I'm not convinced it has to be private, but they probably just don't want to have to maintain that forever.

Yeah, this seems reasonable to me. The better thing to get annoyed at Apple for is being slow to implement web standards. I guess you could make the argument that they are choosing to work on stuff like this instead, but I think that’s a weak argument.

And even then, they've made efforts to get better. Safari is starting to edge out Firefox for support of the features I actually want to use

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#132

Post by dmix »

presbyterian wrote: post #45
vlucas wrote: post #34

Nice find! Apple's new glass UI seems to draw a lot of ire, but I... kinda like it? It feels like the OS has some actual personality again instead of just being flat and boring. I can visually tell the size of click targets now and the buttons are finally visually distinct from text again. I view it as a welcome change. It's not just "nostalgia" either. It has actual utility. I installed the iOS 26 Beta to test some…

I like the glass effects and aesthetics, but I think the functionality in a lot of the apps isn't as good as it was. A lot of things that were easy-to-reach buttons are now tucked away in menus, and harder to find.

That always depends on how difficult discoverability is. For example if you're designing for something like Apple Watch there's very limited place for stuff, so you either pack it or you find ways to only show what's most important, using gestures or menus to do other stuff.

Mobile apps having less UI elements immediately visible is not all bad. The hard part of new UX concepts like the new iOS camera button sliding feature is that it's new. Users aren't immediately familiar with it. Not every OS functionality uses it consistently. Etc.

It's probably better to wait a year or two before critiquing Liquid Glass. Change is always risky and takes time to fully roll out and the ecosystem to adopt it widely.

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#134

Post by anonymars »

snackbroken wrote: post #19
integralid wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to be outraged at apple, but I really can't. Read WinAPI documentation and try to count all "reserved" parameters for example. OS developers build features just for internal use all the time. Granted, this is just UI tweak so I'm not convinced it has to be private, but they probably just don't want to have to maintain that forever.

The key distinction is the withholding from your competitors part. WinAPI may have a ton of features labelled "pls no use thx" but MS doesn't block you from distributing a program that uses them anyway.

That's not the key distinction -- of course Windows will likely have internal-only APIs for its own internal use. The problem is when e.g. there are special internal Windows APIs that Office can use but Lotus/etc. can't, or that Edge can use but Firefox/Chrome/etc. can't.

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#135

Post by oneplane »

snackbroken wrote: post #19
integralid wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wanted to be outraged at apple, but I really can't. Read WinAPI documentation and try to count all "reserved" parameters for example. OS developers build features just for internal use all the time. Granted, this is just UI tweak so I'm not convinced it has to be private, but they probably just don't want to have to maintain that forever.

The key distinction is the withholding from your competitors part. WinAPI may have a ton of features labelled "pls no use thx" but MS doesn't block you from distributing a program that uses them anyway.

It's not withholding, it's just not part of the AppStore if you do it. There are plenty of other ways to distribute your software, and yes, Apple will also still co-sign it or provide entitlements if you need those. Just not in the AppStore.

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#136

Post by pdntspa »

jacobgkau wrote: post #56
pdntspa wrote: post #43

[flagged]

No, Windows 7 actually did a glass texture, whereas this is just a blur with marketing.

This looks like a little bit more than a blur, there seem to be some refraction and some other optical-type effects. But realistically its just a blur with marketing.

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#137

Post by ericmcer »

snackbroken wrote: post #3

Providing an OS feature only to first-party programs is a plainly anticompetitive practice. Using your privileged position in one market (cell phones/cell phone operating systems) to gain an advantage in another market (smart phone applications) that you withhold from your competitors is a textbook case.

Its a toss up between anticompetitive being bad and unified standards being good.

Look at the m3/4 macs they are insane machines because even the hardware is unified.

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#138

Post by mvdtnz »

ericmcer wrote: post #137
snackbroken wrote: post #3

Providing an OS feature only to first-party programs is a plainly anticompetitive practice. Using your privileged position in one market (cell phones/cell phone operating systems) to gain an advantage in another market (smart phone applications) that you withhold from your competitors is a textbook case.

Its a toss up between anticompetitive being bad and unified standards being good. Look at the m3/4 macs they are insane machines because even the hardware is unified.

How would exposing this CSS extension impact unification of the platform?

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#139

Post by [deleted] »

oneplane wrote: post #135
snackbroken wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key distinction is the withholding from your competitors part. WinAPI may have a ton of features labelled "pls no use thx" but MS doesn't block you from distributing a program that uses them anyway.

It's not withholding, it's just not part of the AppStore if you do it. There are plenty of other ways to distribute your software, and yes, Apple will also still co-sign it or provide entitlements if you need those. Just not in the AppStore.

[deleted]

Re: Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

#140

Post by dham »

ericmcer wrote: post #137
snackbroken wrote: post #3

Providing an OS feature only to first-party programs is a plainly anticompetitive practice. Using your privileged position in one market (cell phones/cell phone operating systems) to gain an advantage in another market (smart phone applications) that you withhold from your competitors is a textbook case.

Its a toss up between anticompetitive being bad and unified standards being good. Look at the m3/4 macs they are insane machines because even the hardware is unified.

What do you mean by unified? Strix Halo is "unified". The M series platform isn't the only unified platform out there.
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