Apple unveiled a stunning new software design on Monday that enhances the expressiveness and pleasure of apps and system interactions while making them instantly recognizable.

It is made of a novel substance known as liquid glass. In addition to reflecting and refracting its surroundings, this transparent material dynamically changes to assist emphasize content and add a new level of vibrancy to controls, navigation, app icons, widgets, and other elements.

To create even more unity while preserving the distinctive features that set each platform apart, the new design is now available on iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 261 for the first time.

Alan Dye, Apple’s vice president of Human Interface Design, stated, “At Apple, we’ve always believed in the deep integration of hardware and software that makes interacting with technology intuitive, beautiful, and delightful.”

“In the end, it makes even the most basic of interactions more enjoyable and magical, and it lays the foundation for new experiences in the future,” Dye continued.

The new design leverages Apple’s significant advancements in hardware, silicon, and graphics capabilities, drawing inspiration from the depth and dimensionality of visionOS.

With the new and updated controls and Liquid Glass materials, developers can redesign their programs to make every user interaction even more pleasurable and intuitive.

Liquid Glass employs real-time rendering and uses specular highlights to dynamically respond to movement. According to the business, this makes using the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV even more enjoyable by creating a vivid experience.

“App navigation, toolbars, and controls have all been updated. Originally designed for rectangular screens, they now precisely align with the rounded edges of contemporary hardware and app windows, creating a more harmonious combination of content, software, and hardware, according to Apple.

The similar method has been used to redesign sidebars and tab bars. When Apple users scroll in iOS 26, the tab bars reduce to highlight the content while maintaining instant access to navigation. Tab bars extend fluidly when users scroll back up. Updated sidebars in iPadOS and macOS enhance the immersive experience of programs like Apple TV.