Apple seems to be taking a step back with iOS 27 when it comes to major visual innovations, but that does not mean that the current Liquid Glass design remains unchanged. Instead of major changes, the focus is on refining what was introduced with iOS 26, as well as offering additional control to the user.
For anyone who hoped that Liquid Glass would fade away after the many criticisms, it is clear: the glass appearance will remain the basis of the iOS design language in the coming years. Still, we can expect an important new feature from iOS 27: a smart controller that adjusts the Liquid Glass across the entire system for more personalization.
Liquid Glass is here to stay
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has in his Power On newsletter more details revealed about the future of the Liquid Design of Apple’s software. Gurman states that the recent internal versions of iOS 27 and macOS 27 do not show any significant changes to the design of Liquid Glass.
For those who hoped that Liquid Glass would largely disappear after all the criticism, the rumor is clear: the glass look will remain a fundamental part of the iOS design language for years to come. iOS 26 was just the first step in a multi-year plan to gradually improve readability and settings instead of starting over, similar to what we saw at the time with iOS 7.
iOS 27 makes limited adjustments to Liquid Glass
In recent months, the Liquid Glass design has received some minor adjustments. With iOS 26.1 and later updates, Apple added additional settings, such as a tinted display and options to disable certain Liquid Glass accents. iOS 27 is expected to build on this: no major changes, but small improvements for a more pleasant daily use.
System-wide Liquid Glass regulator
The most interesting part of the rumor revolves around a system-wide control for the Liquid Glass effect. During the development of iOS 26, Apple is said to have already been working on a slider that allows you to determine exactly how strong the glass effect is in the interface, but that attempt failed when it turned out that it was technically difficult to consistently extend this to the entire system, including folders, navigation bars and home screen.
Yet some of that work is already visible: you can now fine-tune the display of the clock on the lock screen. The latest rumor suggests that Apple is once again trying to make that slider work system-wide in iOS 27, which would allow you to adjust the intensity of Liquid Glass on your iPhone, iPad, and possibly Mac in much more detail than is currently possible.
More personalization
If the reports are true, the Liquid Glass design will remain the standard look of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS for years to come, but your influence on how pronounced that effect is will grow. Instead of just choosing between two profiles, a smart controller would make it possible to set Liquid Glass more subtly or more emphatically, depending on your preference and your need for readability.
For users currently trying to largely bypass Liquid Glass through accessibility options, a system-wide control can provide a practical workaround: keeping the modern style, but with more peace and contrast. At the same time, there remains room for fans of the existing look to take full advantage of the effect, especially if Apple further optimizes both the underlying display and performance.