Liquid Glass — iOS 26 SwiftUI Design System

Overview

Liquid Glass is Apple's design language introduced in iOS 26 (2025). It features translucent, depth-aware materials that react to content behind them. This skill provides patterns for implementing Liquid Glass effects in SwiftUI.

Core Principles

1. Translucency over opacity — Elements reveal the content beneath them
2. Depth through layering — Multiple glass layers create visual hierarchy
3. Adaptive tinting — Glass adapts color to surrounding content
4. Motion and physics — Elements respond to scroll, tilt, and interaction
5. Semantic materials — Use Apple's material types, not hardcoded colors

SwiftUI Materials

Built-in Materials (iOS 15+, enhanced iOS 26)

// Thin material — barely visible, subtle blur
.background(.thinMaterial)

// Regular material — standard glass effect
.background(.regularMaterial)

// Thick material — more opaque, stronger effect
.background(.thickMaterial)

// Ultra-thin material — maximum transparency
.background(.ultraThinMaterial)

// Ultra-thick material — nearly opaque
.background(.ultraThickMaterial)

// Bar material — for navigation/tab bars
.background(.bar)

Liquid Glass Modifier (iOS 26+)

// New in iOS 26: native liquid glass effect
.glassEffect(.regular)

// With tinting
.glassEffect(.regular.tint(.blue))

// Interactive glass (responds to hover/press)
.glassEffect(.regular.interactive())

Component Patterns

Glass Card

struct GlassCard<Content: View>: View {
    let content: () -> Content

    var body: some View {
        content()
            .padding(20)
            .background(.ultraThinMaterial)
            .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 20, style: .continuous))
            .shadow(color: .black.opacity(0.1), radius: 10, y: 5)
            .overlay(
                RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 20, style: .continuous)
                    .stroke(.white.opacity(0.2), lineWidth: 0.5)
            )
    }
}

// Usage
GlassCard {
    VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 8) {
        Text("Title").font(.headline)
        Text("Subtitle").font(.subheadline).foregroundStyle(.secondary)
    }
}

Glass Navigation Bar

struct GlassNavBar: View {
    let title: String

    var body: some View {
        HStack {
            Text(title)
                .font(.largeTitle.bold())
            Spacer()
        }
        .padding(.horizontal, 20)
        .padding(.vertical, 12)
        .background(.bar)
        .overlay(alignment: .bottom) {
            Divider().opacity(0.3)
        }
    }
}

Glass Tab Bar

struct GlassTabBar: View {
    @Binding var selection: Int
    let items: [(icon: String, label: String)]

    var body: some View {
        HStack {
            ForEach(items.indices, id: \.self) { index in
                Button {
                    withAnimation(.spring(response: 0.3)) {
                        selection = index
                    }
                } label: {
                    VStack(spacing: 4) {
                        Image(systemName: items[index].icon)
                            .font(.system(size: 20))
                        Text(items[index].label)
                            .font(.caption2)
                    }
                    .foregroundStyle(selection == index ? .primary : .secondary)
                    .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
                }
            }
        }
        .padding(.vertical, 8)
        .background(.ultraThinMaterial)
        .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 24, style: .continuous))
        .padding(.horizontal, 20)
    }
}

Glass Button

struct GlassButton: View {
    let title: String
    let icon: String?
    let action: () -> Void

    var body: some View {
        Button(action: action) {
            HStack(spacing: 8) {
                if let icon {
                    Image(systemName: icon)
                }
                Text(title).fontWeight(.medium)
            }
            .padding(.horizontal, 20)
            .padding(.vertical, 12)
            .background(.ultraThinMaterial)
            .clipShape(Capsule())
            .overlay(Capsule().stroke(.white.opacity(0.2), lineWidth: 0.5))
        }
    }
}

Glass Sheet / Modal

struct GlassSheet<Content: View>: View {
    let content: () -> Content

    var body: some View {
        content()
            .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
            .padding(24)
            .background(.regularMaterial)
            .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 32, style: .continuous))
            .overlay(
                RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 32, style: .continuous)
                    .stroke(.white.opacity(0.15), lineWidth: 0.5)
            )
            .shadow(color: .black.opacity(0.2), radius: 20, y: 10)
            .padding(16)
    }
}

Color & Tinting

Adaptive Tinting

// Glass that picks up color from content beneath
.background(.ultraThinMaterial)
.environment(\.colorScheme, .dark) // Force dark glass

// Tinted glass
ZStack {
    Color.blue.opacity(0.15)
    content
}
.background(.ultraThinMaterial)

Vibrancy

// Text that adapts to material behind it
Text("Label")
    .foregroundStyle(.primary) // Adapts to material

Text("Secondary")
    .foregroundStyle(.secondary) // Reduced prominence

// Use semantic colors — they adapt to materials
Text("Vibrant")
    .foregroundStyle(.primary)
    .environment(\.backgroundMaterial, .ultraThinMaterial)

Layout Patterns

Depth Layering

+-----------------------------------------+
| Background (image, gradient, video)     |  Layer 0: Content
+-----------------------------------------+
| Ultra-thin material overlay             |  Layer 1: Ambient glass
+-----------------------------------------+
| Regular material cards                  |  Layer 2: Content glass
+-----------------------------------------+
| Thick material controls                 |  Layer 3: Interactive glass
+-----------------------------------------+
| Bar material navigation                 |  Layer 4: Chrome glass
+-----------------------------------------+

Rule: Each layer up uses a thicker material. Never put thin material on top of thick.

Scroll-Aware Glass

struct ScrollGlassHeader: View {
    @State private var scrollOffset: CGFloat = 0

    var body: some View {
        ZStack(alignment: .top) {
            ScrollView {
                // Content with offset tracking
                GeometryReader { geo in
                    Color.clear.preference(
                        key: ScrollOffsetKey.self,
                        value: geo.frame(in: .named("scroll")).minY
                    )
                }
                .frame(height: 0)

                // Actual content
                LazyVStack { /* ... */ }
                    .padding(.top, 60)
            }
            .coordinateSpace(name: "scroll")
            .onPreferenceChange(ScrollOffsetKey.self) { scrollOffset = $0 }

            // Glass header that intensifies on scroll
            Text("Title")
                .font(.headline)
                .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
                .padding()
                .background(
                    scrollOffset < -10
                        ? AnyShapeStyle(.regularMaterial)
                        : AnyShapeStyle(.clear)
                )
                .animation(.easeInOut(duration: 0.2), value: scrollOffset < -10)
        }
    }
}

Best Practices

1. Never hardcode blur values — Always use .material modifiers
2. Test in both light and dark mode — Glass renders differently
3. Use .continuous corner style — Apple's superellipse, not circular
4. Keep glass layers to 3 max — Too many layers reduce readability
5. Use semantic foreground styles — .primary, .secondary, not raw colors
6. Add subtle borders — .white.opacity(0.15-0.25) with 0.5pt stroke
7. Shadow behind glass, not on it — Shadow goes on the container
8. Test on real devices — Simulator doesn't perfectly render materials