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A Summary of the WWDC25 Group Lab - Design
At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Design. Can you expand on how Liquid Glass helps with navigation and focus in the UI? Liquid Glass clarifies the navigation layer by introducing a single, floating pane that acts as the primary navigation area. Buttons within this pane seamlessly morph as you move between sections, and controls can temporarily lift into the glass surface. While avoiding excessive use of glass (like layering glass on glass), this approach simplifies navigation and strengthens the connection between menus, alerts, and the elements that trigger them. What should I do with customized bars that I might have in my app? Reconsider the content and behavior of customized bars. Evaluate whether you need all the buttons and whether a menu might be a better solution. Instead of relying on background colors or styling, express hierarchy through layout and grouping. This is a good opportunity to adopt the new design language and simplify your interface. What are scroll edge effects, and what options do we have for them? Scroll edge effects enhance legibility in controls by lifting interactive elements and separating them from the background. There are two types: a soft edge effect (a subtle blur) and a hard edge effect (a more defined boundary for high-legibility areas like column sorting). Scroll edge effects are designed to work seamlessly with Liquid Glass, allowing content to feel expansive while ensuring controls and titles remain legible. How can we ensure or improve accessibility using Liquid Glass? Legibility is a priority, and refinements are ongoing throughout the betas. Liquid Glass adapts well to accessibility settings like Reduce Transparency, Increase Contrast, and Reduce Motion. There are two variants of glass: regular glass, designed to be legible by default, and clear glass, used in places like AVKit, which requires more care to ensure legibility. Use color contrast tools to ensure contrast ratios are met. The Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) are a living document offering best practices. The colors and materials pages are key resources. Do you have any recommendations for convincing designers concerned with consistency across Android and Web to use Liquid Glass? Start small and focus on high-utility controls that don't significantly impact brand experience. Native controls offer familiarity and predictability to users. Using the native controls makes sure your app feels at home on the device. Using native frameworks provides built-in accessibility support (dynamic type, reduce transparency, increase contrast). Native controls come with built-in behaviors and interactions. Can ScrollViews include Liquid Glass within them? You can technically put a glass layer inside a scroll view, but it can feel heavy and doesn't align with the system's intention for Liquid Glass to serve as a fixed layer. Think of the content layer as the scrolling layer, and the navigational layer as the one using Liquid Glass. If there is glass on the content layer it will collide into the navigational layer. What core design philosophy guided the direction of iOS 26, beyond the goal of unification? The core design philosophy involved blurring the line between hardware and software, separating UI and navigation elements from content, making apps adaptable across window sizes, and combining playfulness with sophistication. It was about making the UI feel at home on rounded screens. Can we layer Liquid Glass elements on top of each other? Avoid layering Liquid Glass elements directly on top of each other, as it creates unnecessary visual complexity. The system will automatically convert nested glass elements to a vibrant fill style. Use vibrant fills and labels to show control shapes and ensure legibility. Opaque grays should be avoided in favor of vibrant colors, which will multiply with the backgrounds correctly. What will happen to apps that use custom components? Should they be adapted to the new design within the next year? The more native components you use, the more things happen for free. Standard components will be upgraded automatically. Look out for any customizations that might clash. Think about what is the minimum viable change, where your app still feels and looks very similar to what it did. Prioritize changes in core workflows and navigational areas. There are a number of benefits to using native components including user familiarity, built-in accessibility support, and built-in behaviors and interactions. Will Apple be releasing Figma design templates? Sketch kits were published on Monday and can be referenced. The goal is to ensure the resources are well-organized, well-named, and easy to use. It's a high priority.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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1.6k
Jun ’25
Liquid Glass Navigation Bar
The system provided liquid glass background looks terrible with my companies navigation bar background color. The navigation background color is not up for discussion and cannot be changed. The clear liquid glass style looks great and I can apply that to buttons I add to the navigation bar, but that doesn't effect the system provided back button. I would prefer to maintain the default back button functionality. Please make it possible to set the liquid glass style that the system provides for navigation bar items.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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988
Oct ’25
macOS 26 Beta Dark Mode Icons Fallback Removed
Post: In macOS 26 Betas 1–3, the system applied an automatic dark-mode fallback for app icons. This ensured consistency across the Dock and Finder even when developers hadn’t provided dark assets. Since Beta 4, this fallback was removed. As of Beta 7, icons now rely entirely on developer-updated assets. The result is mixed light and dark icons in the Dock, breaking visual consistency and making app recognition slower in dark mode. Observed behavior: • Icons without dark assets are displayed in their original light version. • Some apps (e.g. Final Cut Pro) show a gray border treatment that feels inconsistent with the rest of the UI. • The fallback applied in Betas 1–3 is completely absent. Expected behavior: System should provide a fallback rendering until developers supply proper dark assets, or offer a toggle in System Settings → Appearance (e.g. “Force Dark Icons”). This is still present in Beta 7. Is there any plan to restore the fallback mechanism or provide a user option?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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305
Aug ’25
App Icon issue in Wallet app
Hi, Upon reviewing our app, we got feedback that our app icon within the Wallet app is not behaving as expected when the home screen is set to "light mode" only. In that case, on the home screen, the app icon remains its default color (e.g., red), regardless of the device's appearance settings (light or dark), which is expected. However, in the apple Wallet, e.g., under the From Apps from your device, app icons change their color (e.g., red in light mode, black in dark mode) when iOS appearance is changed - which is reported as an app issue. I've noticed that all apps in that section are changing the color, not just ours, so it seems to me like a bug in iOS or a behavior that was not clearly defined in the app store guidelines. If there is an API we must use to cover that case, which one would that be? Is this a bug that Apple should resolve, or is this the intended behaviour?
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444
Aug ’25
NSStatusItem Visibility Issue in AU Audio Plugin - Logic Pro vs Other Hosts
Target: MacOS 11.1 and above C++, Juce 8, XCode 16.2 Testing: Sonoma 14.5 Logic Pro (latest version), Reaper 7.34, Pro Tools 2023.12 and 2025.6 I'm developing an audio plugin that creates an NSStatusItem ("menu bar status icon" or MBSI for short) to provide visual feedback for one of the components. I've encountered a Logic Pro-specific behavior that I'd like to fix. I'm building for Mac-only, Intel and Silicon, and for AU/VST3/AAX. Summary: The NSStatusItem for the MBSI is created successfully and functions properly in some hosts (Reaper (AU and VST3), Pro Tools (AAX)) but isn't visible in Logic Pro, despite identical API behavior. Details: NSStatusItem Creation: implementation using [[NSStatusBar systemStatusBar] statusItemWithLength:NSSquareStatusItemLength] All API calls report success in both working (Reaper) and non-working (Logic Pro) hosts. Logging shows Logic Pro and Reaper create the NSStatusItem with the same properties: Window frame: {{0, -36}, {38, 36}} (both hosts) statusItem.visible: YES (both hosts) Button exists and responds to state changes (both hosts) Y coordinate is -36 pixels (above visible screen, both hosts) In Reaper, I can see the MBSI but in Logic Pro I can't. Note: the MBSI has no functionality beyond visual feedback. It's not clickable nor does it create a corresponding menu. Questions: Are there known differences in how Logic Pro's AU hosting service handles system UI elements compared to other hosts? And if so, is there guidance on AU plugins accessing system UI elements like the menu bar? Link to NSStatusItemTest.component: https://app.box.com/s/i3rq0hii3qf43iojrayc17fsfq7fnssd Link to video showing issue: https://app.box.com/s/icefqk898timqov77t468lqtio0rjqul Link to Console output for testing in Reaper vs Logic Pro: https://app.box.com/s/ph6nv1lmozo3phtjx3md6abdms5atgg6
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
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322
Jul ’25
NavigationStack wrong behaviour in iOS 18.3
Hi, Anybody knows will this occurs when using navigationStack at iOS 18.3? The navigationStack not stay at safeareas the code as simple as that: NavigationStack(path: $navManager.path) { VStack { Text("Hello") } .navigationDestination(for: Route.self) { route in switch route { .... } } } .environmentObject(navManager) .environment(logic)
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139
Jun ’25
Nearby Accessory
Can the vehicle‑side UWB module, acting as a Nearby Accessory, perform ranging with multiple iOS phones simultaneously while iOS cell uses background ranging with the vehicle‑side UWB (which involves BLE GATT services)? I mean, when the IOS cell works in the background, it will read the nearby gatt characteristic automatically. If there were multiple phones perform ranging with the accessory, the read characteristic from the accessory side, what shall its content be? Or does the accessory only perform ranging with one phone at a time?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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glassEffect() in SwiftUI always renders as white – even with latest Beta 2 on macOS 15
Hi everyone, I’m having trouble getting the new glassEffect() modifier to render correctly in SwiftUI. No matter what I try, it just appears as a solid white background (instead of translucent glass). This happens both in Beta 1 and Beta 2. My setup: • Mac mini (M4 chip) • macOS 15 Beta 2 (Tahoe) • Xcode 16 Beta 2 • Samsung Odyssey G9 57” monitor (super ultrawide) • Using Preview in SwiftUI (not the Simulator) Even when I use Apple’s default demo code like: Text("Hello World") .padding() .glassEffect()
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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133
Jun ’25
What is the best way to design a UITabBarController (or Sidebar) combined with a UISplitViewController on iPadOS 18 and later, while avoiding memory management issues?
I'm developing an iPadOS 18+ application that uses a UITabBarController, styled as a sidebar, to serve as the primary navigation interface. This setup includes 20 different tabs, each representing a distinct section of the app. For the user experience, each tab needs to present a master-detail interface, implemented using a UISplitViewController. The goal is to allow users to navigate between tabs via the sidebar, and within each tab, access related content through the split view's list-detail pattern. The Problem: Currently, my implementation involves instantiating a separate UISplitViewController for each tab, resulting in 20 unique split view instances embedded inside the UITabBarController. While this works functionally, it leads to significant memory usage, especially after the user opens each tab at least once. The accumulation of all these instantiated view controllers in memory eventually causes performance degradation or even memory warnings/crashes on lower-end iPads. The Question: What is the best approach to implement this type of architecture without running into memory management issues? Specifically: Is there a way to reuse or lazily load the UISplitViewController instances only when needed? Can we unload or release split view controllers that haven't been used for a while to reduce memory pressure? Would a custom container controller be more appropriate than using UITabBarController in this case? Are there iPadOS 18+ best practices or newer APIs that support this kind of complex multi-tab, multi-split-view structure efficiently? Any advice on how to optimize memory usage while preserving the sidebar navigation and split view layout would be highly appreciated.
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200
May ’25
iOS 26 UIBarButtonItem badge
I'm using the new badge feature for UIBarButtonItem, but it's not working properly for me when transitioning between view controllers. I have two view controller with various right bar button items. In the first view controller the first button (the one with the bell) has a badge with a numeric count. The second view controller has the same button but in the third position. When I push the second view controller, it seems that the badge maintains also the old position, so I see two buttons with badges instead of one. What can I do to fix this?
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
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767
Sep ’25
iOS 26.0.1: Different Liquid Glass Effects
Hello everyone, In the current iOS version, changes in the "liquid glass" light shining effects can repeatedly be observed on older iPhone devices (12/13/14). This change is often seen after the device is rebooted or after a SystemMemoryReset.ips (System Analysis Data). It changes very often... I'm not currently working on apps myself, but perhaps someone has ideas for the upcoming updates involving Liquid Glass. (please also check the screenshots)
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815
Oct ’25
Liquid Glass icons appear differently in Dock
I just played around on macOS with the new icons created by Icon Composer, and I noticed that the Dock displays programmatically set icons differently. Try this: Make sure you have the Mail app in your Dock. Set the icon appearance to "Tinted/Light" and set a dark (black) background for the Desktop. Run this code: let image = NSWorkspace.shared.icon(forFile: "/System/Applications/Mail.app") if image.isValid { NSApp.applicationIconImage = image } You'll get something like this: When the icon appearance is set to "Default" or "Dark," everything works as expected, and the "Clear/Dark" and "Tinted/Dark" modes seem to work as well. It seems like the Dock uses a special blend mode depending on the selected background, but this does not seem to be the case if the icon is set programmatically. I filed feedback FB20291186.
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739
Sep ’25
Got Some Error while build of my Application
Showing Recent Errors Only Prepare build error: Multiple commands produce '/Users/mayankjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/PCS_EmpApp-chsylqbxjptobeawzzckymqzagvr/Build/Products/Debug-iphonesimulator/PCS_EmpApp.app/Info.plist' note: Target 'PCS_EmpApp' (project 'PCS_EmpApp') has copy command from '/Users/mayankjain/Documents/05-NOV-2025-SWETA_IOS/PCS_EmpApp/PCS_EmpApp/xcode-out/Platforms/iOS/Info.plist' to '/Users/mayankjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/PCS_EmpApp-chsylqbxjptobeawzzckymqzagvr/Build/Products/Debug-iphonesimulator/PCS_EmpApp.app/Info.plist' note: Target 'PCS_EmpApp' (project 'PCS_EmpApp') has process command with output '/Users/mayankjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/PCS_EmpApp-chsylqbxjptobeawzzckymqzagvr/Build/Products/Debug-iphonesimulator/PCS_EmpApp.app/Info.plist' Multiple commands produce '/Users/mayankjain/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/PCS_EmpApp-chsylqbxjptobeawzzckymqzagvr/Build/Products/Debug-iphonesimulator/PCS_EmpApp.app/Info.plist'
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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672
Nov ’25
苹果手机的问题
1/自从更新26.0版本 页面好看但是应用和主界面使用体验非常差很卡 2/苹果键盘功能有待优化 表情和语音文字识别还有键盘设置 3/还有手机发热卡顿 导致非常多的使用不方便 苹果官方请优化以上问题
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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253
Jun ’25
macOS Tahoe generates low resolution wallpapers on certain Mac models
Dear Apple, please make sure this bug gets delivered to whoever is responsible. That's all I ask. Please don't let it sit for months unassigned. This is, by far, the worst bug I've ever found with the macOS wallpaper system. FB21532401 If you own a 13" 2020 or newer MacBook pro model, set to the default resolution, and are running macOS Tahoe, macOS will significantly degrade the quality of any image set as wallpaper. When a still image is set as the wallpaper on macOS Tahoe, on some display configurations, the systems downscales the image to an incorrect size, resulting in pixelated wallpaper. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that macOS Wallpaper Agent appears to be using a less than ideal downscaling algorithm, which results in Super Mario Bros’ type pixelation (nearest neighbor) as opposed to any other reasonable modern method (like bicubic.) The issue does not repro on macOS Sequoia. Every model MacBook we’ve tested offers some resolutions with some form of this problem, but the 13” is the only one where it is notably awful. The most evident default case of this is the 13” MacBook Pro models with a 2560x1600 physical display (for example, 2020 MacBook Pro 13” (17,1.)) These models have a physical display resolution of 2560x1600, and a default scaled resolution of 1440x900. The relationship between the physical resolution and scaled resolution is not an even ratio (1:1 or 2:1), which seems to be the common condition under which this issue occurs. Repro steps: Set the systems display resolution to the default resolution - ideally on the model described above (see details on this below) Set a high resolution image (in this example 5120x2880) as the system wallpaper using any method Results: On the model described above, Wallpaper Agent will generate and display a 1440x810 image as the wallpaper. It should be generating and displaying at a minimum of 2560x1600, or more appropriately at 2880x1800 which is the proper 2X resolution. This can be confirmed by viewing the properties of the generated images in the macOS wallpaper cache here: ~/Library/containers/com.apple.wallpaper.agent/Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.wallpaper.caches/extension-com.apple.wallpaper.extension.image On modern Apple systems, the only situation in which the wallpaper should be generated at 1X is when the physical resolution and set resolution are 1:1. In any situation where the physical resolution is larger than the set resolution, the image should be generated at 2X the set resolution. As far as we can tell, this issue impacts any format, and any resolution of image, and occurs independent of the set image resolution.
Topic: Design SubTopic: General
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336
Jan ’26
iOS 26 Liquid Glass - Without any Blur - Possible?
let glassView = UIVisualEffectView(effect: UIGlassEffect(style: .clear)) glassView.frame = CGRect(x: 100, y: 200, width: 200, height: 400) self.view.addSubview(glassView) Though UIGlassEffect has two variants: .regular and .clear, even the clear one has some blur on the background. Is there a way to do get absolute no blur? Edges still have the glass effect. Apple does this in two places: Camera app: Text magnifier:
Topic: Design SubTopic: General Tags:
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706
Oct ’25
How does Apple achieve this effect?
Hi everyone, I'm new to building apps on Swift and recently I've been wondering how does Apple get this blur effect behind the control center on Mac OS Tahoe. I think it would be nice to use in an app that I'm making but I can't seem to find it in the docs. Is it available through AppKit? I would appreciate some help on this
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628
Dec ’25