Apple Prepares Developers for Major UI Shift with Liquid Glass Design Kits
Apple’s updated design resources for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe 26 signal a pivotal moment for interface consistency and modernity across its platforms. According to official announcements and reporting from MacRumors and 9to5Mac, these resource releases closely follow the unveiling of the new Liquid Glass design language at WWDC 2025 and are now available to registered developers via the Apple Design Resources website.
What’s New: Liquid Glass and Its Strategic Significance
Apple’s Liquid Glass design is described as a translucent material that reflects and refracts its environment, dynamically adapting to context to help direct users’ attention to relevant content. Apple design documentation positions Liquid Glass as the most significant visual redesign since iOS 7—a comparison that underlines Apple’s belief in the interface’s long-term impact on user experience.
From a feature perspective, the design overhauls system controls, navigation elements, app icons, and widgets. Notably, elements like tab bars now shrink during scrolling to put content front and center. macOS-specific refreshes include arrow buttons, color wells, and window controls that harmonize with the Liquid Glass aesthetic. The unified approach exemplifies Apple’s steady trend toward cross-device visual and functional consistency—a pattern observed previously during the rollouts of Big Sur and the initial iOS 7 flat design shift.
Expanded Design Resources: Depth and Accessibility
According to 9to5Mac and the Apple Developer website, the update brings expanded template support, now spanning Sketch, Photoshop, Illustrator, and, for the first time, Figma for app icon creation. Developers and designers can access comprehensive UI asset libraries including buttons, alerts, sliders, menus, widgets, and notifications for iOS and iPadOS, alongside new design components for macOS such as combo boxes and tooltips.
Additionally, Apple has delivered updated PNG and PDF asset sets for Games and Game Center, along with a beta release of SF Symbols 7. The new symbol library, as detailed by AppleInsider, now features over 6,900 icons, including enhanced animation and rendering capabilities—tools that further reinforce the visual coherence of third-party apps with Apple’s evolving system look.
Impact: Preparing the Ecosystem for Transition
The timing and breadth of these updates underscore Apple’s prioritization of a cohesive, forward-facing visual identity across its platforms. The design kits are freely available to registered developers, with an intended synergy between resource availability and the anticipated public release of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe 26 later in 2025. At present, design resources for tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26 remain pending, though sources indicate these will likely follow.
With the Liquid Glass language set to become standard across Apple’s consumer software, developers adopting these new assets will be well-positioned for the OS launch window. For Apple enthusiasts tracking interface evolution, this shift mirrors previous era-defining transitions—again reinforcing Apple’s enduring influence on industry UI standards.