When Apple unveiled its new Liquid Glass design language at WWDC '25, designers and devs around the world had a moment of deja vu. If you remember Windows Vista's Aero Glass aesthetic translucent panes, glowing edges, and glassy blurs, this might feel like history repeating itself.
But Apple's take isn't just nostalgia; it's refinement.
Vista's Aero vs Apple's Liquid Glass
Let's rewind.
Vista's Aero Glass was ambitious for its time (2006), introducing frosted translucency, window blur, and fluid motion. The problem? Hardware limitations. It was heavy on resources, inconsistent in UX, and often felt more gimmick than utility.
Fast forward to 2025, and Apple's Liquid Glass builds on the same core idea: translucency, depth, and light — but with far more nuance and purpose:
- Performance-first: Apple's silicon chips and rendering optimizations make these effects smooth and battery-friendly.
- Dynamic blur + depth layering: Liquid Glass adapts contextually — surfaces shift focus based on hierarchy, adding spatial clarity.
- Physical realism: Unlike Vista's fake gloss, Apple simulates light scattering through curved glass, giving the UI a real-world softness.
Glassmorphism 2.0?
This isn't Apple's first dance with Glassmorphism — the design trend characterized by background blur, frosted transparency, soft shadows, and light borders. We saw it with iOS 7's frosted panels, refined in Big Sur, and now evolved into Liquid Glass on visionOS and macOS.
The difference? Liquid Glass isn't just visual polish. It's UX-aware. It signals state, focus, and depth through subtle glass effects. Text readability is carefully maintained, and interactions are tuned for spatial environments.
VisionOS and the Future of UI
Liquid Glass is more than a visual style — it's a spatial design paradigm for Vision Pro and beyond. As Apple transitions toward mixed-reality-first experiences:
- Windows float in 3D space with subtle light diffusion.
- Content layers adjust translucency based on interaction.
- The environment influences UI — Liquid Glass reacts to lighting and depth.
This is Apple aligning its UI with spatial computing: minimal, breathable, and anchored in reality.
What to Watch For
As Liquid Glass rolls out across macOS Sequoia, iPadOS, and visionOS:
- Expect third-party apps to adopt Apple's APIs for glass panels and depth layers.
- Watch how design tools evolve — Figma, Framer, and SwiftUI previews will likely support dynamic translucency soon.
- Keep an eye on cross-platform adaptation — web apps might start mimicking Liquid Glass via
backdrop-filter, blur shaders, and more.
I made a sample user card in the same design style. Come check it out:
It's CSS only, using tailwind css, and simple HTML. You can use it with react, vite, next, or any web framework of your choice. If you like it, feel free to give me a shout-out. 👋
You might prefer solid colors. Maybe they'll make a comeback as well. But I'm in love with glassmorphism long time.
Leave comments to what you think and/or if you wanna share something cool you've build using similar design style. :)
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