The crux of the new Liquid Glass design is that the “material” (an odd choice of words from Apple to describe something that’s purely digital) used for the background to menus, and out of which icons are “crafted”, behaves like glass would in the real world, if it also flowed like a liquid.

For the first time we’re introducing a universal design across our platforms.” With those words, Alan Dye, Apple’s VP of human interface design, marked a turning point at WWDC 2025, as Apple unveiled its broadest design update,

At WWDC 2025, Apple changed how we interact with our devices with the introduction of a new user interface it calls Liquid Glass. Apple CEO Tim Cook described it this way: “Expressive. Delightful. But still instantly familiar.”