Liquid Glass Design System for Apple Platforms

Build and migrate SwiftUI apps using Apple's Liquid Glass design language introduced at WWDC 2025. This skill covers iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 (Tahoe), watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26.

Important: Use Latest Documentation

Always fetch the latest Apple developer documentation when implementing Liquid Glass features. The APIs may evolve between OS betas. Key documentation URLs to reference:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/SwiftUI/Applying-Liquid-Glass-to-custom-views
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftui/view/glasseffect(_:in:)
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/SwiftUI/Landmarks-Building-an-app-with-Liquid-Glass
https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/323/ (WWDC25 Session: Build a SwiftUI app with the new design)

Core Concept

Liquid Glass is a translucent, dynamic material exclusively for the navigation layer (toolbars, tab bars, buttons, controls) that floats above app content. It bends and refracts light in real-time, responds to device motion with specular highlights, and adapts continuously to background content.

Never apply glass to content itself (lists, tables, media, text blocks). Glass is for controls and navigation only.

Quick Start: Key APIs

1. Glass Effect on Custom Views

// Basic - capsule shape (default)
Text("Label")
    .padding()
    .glassEffect()

// With shape and style
Image(systemName: "heart.fill")
    .padding()
    .glassEffect(.regular, in: .rect(cornerRadius: 16))

// Tinted glass
Text("Tinted")
    .padding()
    .glassEffect(.regular.tint(.blue))

// Interactive glass (scales, bounces, shimmers on touch - iOS only)
Button("Tap Me") { }
    .glassEffect(.regular.interactive())

2. Glass Styles

Style	Use Case	Transparency
`.regular`	Standard UI: toolbars, buttons, nav bars	Medium
`.clear`	Media-rich backgrounds where content is bold/bright	High
`.identity`	Conditionally disable glass (accessibility)	None

3. GlassEffectContainer (Critical)

Glass cannot sample other glass. Nearby glass elements MUST share a container for visual consistency and morphing.

GlassEffectContainer(spacing: 30.0) {
    Button("Action 1") { }
        .glassEffect()
        .glassEffectID("btn1", in: namespace)

    Button("Action 2") { }
        .glassEffect()
        .glassEffectID("btn2", in: namespace)
}

4. Morphing Transitions

Use @Namespace + glassEffectID inside a GlassEffectContainer for smooth glass morphing:

@Namespace private var namespace
@State private var isExpanded = false

GlassEffectContainer(spacing: 16) {
    if isExpanded {
        ForEach(items) { item in
            ItemView(item: item)
                .glassEffect(.regular, in: .rect(cornerRadius: 24))
                .glassEffectID(item.id, in: namespace)
        }
    }
    Button {
        withAnimation { isExpanded.toggle() }
    } label: { Label("Toggle", systemImage: "chevron.down") }
    .buttonStyle(.glass)
    .glassEffectID("toggle", in: namespace)
}

5. Background Extension Effect

Extends and blurs visual content behind navigation elements (toolbars, sidebars, inspectors):

Image(landmark.backgroundImageName)
    .resizable()
    .aspectRatio(contentMode: .fill)
    .frame(minWidth: 0, maxWidth: .infinity, minHeight: 0, maxHeight: .infinity)
    .backgroundExtensionEffect()

6. Glass Buttons

// Standard glass button
Button("Action") { }
    .buttonStyle(.glass)

// Prominent glass button (for primary actions)
Button("Save") { }
    .buttonStyle(.glassProminent)

7. Toolbars with Glass

Toolbar items automatically receive glass styling. Use ToolbarSpacer and ToolbarItemGroup for layout:

.toolbar {
    ToolbarSpacer(.flexible)
    ToolbarItem { ShareLink(item: data, preview: preview) }
    ToolbarSpacer(.fixed)
    ToolbarItemGroup {
        Button("Favorite", systemImage: "heart") { }
        Button("Add", systemImage: "plus") { }
    }
    ToolbarItem {
        Button("Info", systemImage: "info") { }
    }
}
.toolbar(removing: .title) // Remove title for clean glass toolbar

8. Tab Bars

Tab bars automatically adopt glass when compiled with Xcode 26:

TabView {
    Tab("Home", systemImage: "house") { HomeView() }
    Tab("Search", systemImage: "magnifyingglass") { SearchView() }
}
.tabBarMinimizeBehavior(.onScrollDown) // Collapse tab bar on scroll

9. Sheets with Glass

Partial-height sheets automatically get Liquid Glass backgrounds:

.sheet(isPresented: $showSheet) {
    SheetContent()
        .presentationDetents([.medium, .large])
    // Do NOT add .presentationBackground() - system handles it
}

Migration Workflow (Existing Apps)

For detailed migration steps, see references/migration-guide.md.

Summary:

Compile with Xcode 26 SDK - system components auto-adopt glass
Remove custom toolbar backgrounds (.toolbarBackground)
Replace custom materials on navigation elements with glass modifiers
Wrap grouped glass elements in GlassEffectContainer
Add .backgroundExtensionEffect() to hero images
Update SF Symbol variants (circle variants -> none variants on iOS 26+)
Test accessibility (Reduced Transparency, Increased Contrast, Reduced Motion)

Platform Considerations

For platform-specific details, see references/platform-specifics.md.

Key differences:

macOS: Use .tint(.clear) on glass buttons for proper rendering; use WindowBackgroundShapeStyle.windowBackground instead of Material for editing backgrounds
iOS (iPhone): .interactive() works; use UIDevice.current.userInterfaceIdiom for layout
iPadOS: Larger grid sizes; sidebar adaptable tab views
Conditional compilation: Use #if os(macOS) / #if os(iOS) for platform-specific code

Common Pitfalls

For detailed pitfalls and solutions, see references/pitfalls-and-solutions.md.

Critical issues:

Glass elements outside GlassEffectContainer produce inconsistent visuals
rotationEffect on glass views causes shape morphing - bridge to UIKit with UIGlassEffect
Menu labels with glass cause animation artifacts - use custom ButtonStyle
Hit-testing only registers on content, not glass area - use contentShape() to fix
Multiple glass effects = multiple CABackdropLayer instances (3 offscreen textures each) - use containers to group

Real-World Example Patterns

For complete code patterns from Apple's Landmarks sample app, see examples/landmarks-patterns.md.

Architecture Best Practices

NavigationSplitView as app root with glass sidebar
NavigationStack for deep navigation within detail columns
@Observable data model with @Environment injection
FlexibleHeader pattern: stretching hero images with scroll-linked parallax
.inspector() for supplementary detail panels
.searchable() for global search (auto-styled with glass)
Use ToolbarSpacer(.flexible) and ToolbarSpacer(.fixed) for toolbar layout
Prefer symbol-based buttons with text labels in toolbars
Use .symbolVariant() modifier for SF Symbol state changes
Use .symbolEffect(.drawOn) for animated icon transitions

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