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version: "1.0.1" name: liquid-glass-design description: iOS 26 Liquid Glass design system — dynamic glass material with blur, reflection, and interactive morphing for SwiftUI, UIKit, and WidgetKit.
Liquid Glass Design System (iOS 26)
Patterns for implementing Apple's Liquid Glass — a dynamic material that blurs content behind it, reflects color and light from surrounding content, and reacts to touch and pointer interactions. Covers SwiftUI, UIKit, and WidgetKit integration.
When to Activate
- Building or updating apps for iOS 26+ with the new design language
- Implementing glass-style buttons, cards, toolbars, or containers
- Creating morphing transitions between glass elements
- Applying Liquid Glass effects to widgets
- Migrating existing blur/material effects to the new Liquid Glass API
Core Pattern — SwiftUI
Basic Glass Effect
The simplest way to add Liquid Glass to any view:
Text("Hello, World!").font(.title).padding().glassEffect() // Default: regular variant, capsule shape
Customizing Shape and Tint
Text("Hello, World!").font(.title).padding().glassEffect(.regular.tint(.orange).interactive(), in: .rect(cornerRadius: 16.0))
Key customization options:
.regular— standard glass effect.tint(Color)— add color tint for prominence.interactive()— react to touch and pointer interactions- Shape:
.capsule(default),.rect(cornerRadius:),.circle
Glass Button Styles
Button("Click Me") { /* action */ }.buttonStyle(.glass)Button("Important") { /* action */ }.buttonStyle(.glassProminent)
GlassEffectContainer for Multiple Elements
Always wrap multiple glass views in a container for performance and morphing:
GlassEffectContainer(spacing: 40.0) {HStack(spacing: 40.0) {Image(systemName: "scribble.variable").frame(width: 80.0, height: 80.0).font(.system(size: 36)).glassEffect()Image(systemName: "eraser.fill").frame(width: 80.0, height: 80.0).font(.system(size: 36)).glassEffect()}}
The spacing parameter controls merge distance — closer elements blend their glass shapes together.
Uniting Glass Effects
Combine multiple views into a single glass shape with glassEffectUnion:
@Namespace private var namespaceGlassEffectContainer(spacing: 20.0) {HStack(spacing: 20.0) {ForEach(symbolSet.indices, id: \.self) { item inImage(systemName: symbolSet[item]).frame(width: 80.0, height: 80.0).glassEffect().glassEffectUnion(id: item < 2 ? "group1" : "group2", namespace: namespace)}}}
Morphing Transitions
Create smooth morphing when glass elements appear/disappear:
@State private var isExpanded = false@Namespace private var namespaceGlassEffectContainer(spacing: 40.0) {HStack(spacing: 40.0) {Image(systemName: "scribble.variable").frame(width: 80.0, height: 80.0).glassEffect().glassEffectID("pencil", in: namespace)if isExpanded {Image(systemName: "eraser.fill").frame(width: 80.0, height: 80.0).glassEffect().glassEffectID("eraser", in: namespace)}}}Button("Toggle") {withAnimation { isExpanded.toggle() }}.buttonStyle(.glass)
Extending Horizontal Scrolling Under Sidebar
To allow horizontal scroll content to extend under a sidebar or inspector, ensure the ScrollView content reaches the leading/trailing edges of the container. The system automatically handles the under-sidebar scrolling behavior when the layout extends to the edges — no additional modifier is needed.
Core Pattern — UIKit
Basic UIGlassEffect
let glassEffect = UIGlassEffect()glassEffect.tintColor = UIColor.systemBlue.withAlphaComponent(0.3)glassEffect.isInteractive = truelet visualEffectView = UIVisualEffectView(effect: glassEffect)visualEffectView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = falsevisualEffectView.layer.cornerRadius = 20visualEffectView.clipsToBounds = trueview.addSubview(visualEffectView)NSLayoutConstraint.activate([visualEffectView.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor),visualEffectView.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor),visualEffectView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200),visualEffectView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 120)])// Add content to contentViewlet label = UILabel()label.text = "Liquid Glass"label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = falsevisualEffectView.contentView.addSubview(label)NSLayoutConstraint.activate([label.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: visualEffectView.contentView.centerXAnchor),label.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: visualEffectView.contentView.centerYAnchor)])
UIGlassContainerEffect for Multiple Elements
let containerEffect = UIGlassContainerEffect()containerEffect.spacing = 40.0let containerView = UIVisualEffectView(effect: containerEffect)let firstGlass = UIVisualEffectView(effect: UIGlassEffect())let secondGlass = UIVisualEffectView(effect: UIGlassEffect())containerView.contentView.addSubview(firstGlass)containerView.contentView.addSubview(secondGlass)
Scroll Edge Effects
scrollView.topEdgeEffect.style = .automaticscrollView.bottomEdgeEffect.style = .hardscrollView.leftEdgeEffect.isHidden = true
Toolbar Glass Integration
let favoriteButton = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(systemName: "heart"), style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(favoriteAction))favoriteButton.hidesSharedBackground = true // Opt out of shared glass background
Core Pattern — WidgetKit
Rendering Mode Detection
struct MyWidgetView: View {@Environment(\.widgetRenderingMode) var renderingModevar body: some View {if renderingMode == .accented {// Tinted mode: white-tinted, themed glass background} else {// Full color mode: standard appearance}}}
Accent Groups for Visual Hierarchy
HStack {VStack(alignment: .leading) {Text("Title").widgetAccentable() // Accent groupText("Subtitle")// Primary group (default)}Image(systemName: "star.fill").widgetAccentable() // Accent group}
Image Rendering in Accented Mode
Image("myImage").widgetAccentedRenderingMode(.monochrome)
Container Background
VStack { /* content */ }.containerBackground(for: .widget) {Color.blue.opacity(0.2)}
Key Design Decisions
| Decision | Rationale | |
|---|---|---|
| GlassEffectContainer wrapping | Performance optimization, enables morphing between glass elements | |
spacing parameter | Controls merge distance — fine-tune how close elements must be to blend | |
@Namespace + glassEffectID | Enables smooth morphing transitions on view hierarchy changes | |
interactive() modifier | Explicit opt-in for touch/pointer reactions — not all glass should respond | |
| UIGlassContainerEffect in UIKit | Same container pattern as SwiftUI for consistency | |
| Accented rendering mode in widgets | System applies tinted glass when user selects tinted Home Screen |
Best Practices
- Always use GlassEffectContainer when applying glass to multiple sibling views — it enables morphing and improves rendering performance
- Apply `.glassEffect()` after other appearance modifiers (frame, font, padding)
- Use `.interactive()` only on elements that respond to user interaction (buttons, toggleable items)
- Choose spacing carefully in containers to control when glass effects merge
- Use `withAnimation` when changing view hierarchies to enable smooth morphing transitions
- Test across appearances — light mode, dark mode, and accented/tinted modes
- Ensure accessibility contrast — text on glass must remain readable
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
- Using multiple standalone
.glassEffect()views without a GlassEffectContainer - Nesting too many glass effects — degrades performance and visual clarity
- Applying glass to every view — reserve for interactive elements, toolbars, and cards
- Forgetting
clipsToBounds = truein UIKit when using corner radii - Ignoring accented rendering mode in widgets — breaks tinted Home Screen appearance
- Using opaque backgrounds behind glass — defeats the translucency effect
When to Use
- Navigation bars, toolbars, and tab bars with the new iOS 26 design
- Floating action buttons and card-style containers
- Interactive controls that need visual depth and touch feedback
- Widgets that should integrate with the system's Liquid Glass appearance
- Morphing transitions between related UI states