@gurupanguji<p><strong>Big Mac, Little Content: Liquid Glass Serves Up Extra Bezels with No Fries</strong></p><blockquote><p>But there’s one nagging feeling I have about reinterpreting beloved things, which is that before anyone attempts to do it, they must first seek to understand why it is beloved. It is only through understanding it that anyone can do the job well.</p><p><a href="https://lmnt.me/blog/rose-gold-tinted-liquid-glasses.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rose-Gold-Tinted Liquid Glasses</a></p></blockquote><blockquote><p>It’d be nice if they were knocked off their pedestal, because I think they’re better when they’re trying to outdo someone else rather than themselves.</p></blockquote><p>Louie Mantia is a brilliant icon (and visual) designer and I don’t agree with everything Louie writes about. However, I do pay attention to what he says. Unlike <em>people like Louie</em>, I am a fan of iOS 7 design. I think iOS democratized design to software production in a way that made it <em>far more approachable</em> even if that was never the intent. </p><p>One didn’t have to develop rich leather textures just to design something. I think history would suggest that iOS 7 design had a long, illustrious achievement. However, during that time, I am <em>with</em> Louie that Mac seems to have lost some of its personality. Mac wasn’t the place where skeuomorphism was super live. As a result, it always felt like the melange that Apple really needed. Some apps were skeuomorphic, others preferred flatter design, the web itself and the web platform also supported its own set of designs etc. </p><p>All to say – I relate to Louie’s <em>ennui</em> here. My entire reaction to Liquid Glass ranges from ‘meh’ to sad acceptance that the Mac will likely change for the worse. The biggest problem I have is that overall content area seems to be lowering again and that likely means <em>bigger</em> devices.</p><p>I am slowly reaching the point where the devices I own feel <em>too</em> big. I’d love for more content window size for a smaller device. </p><p>Personally, I felt that John Gruber had the <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2025/06/some_brief_thoughts_and_observations_on_wwdc_2025#:~:text=As%20for%20why%2C%20it%20should%20be%20enough%20to%20justify%20Liquid%20Glass%20simply%20for%20the%20sake%20of%20looking%20cool.%20I%20opened%20this%20piece%20with%20a%20quote%20from%20a%20great%20fictional%20philosopher.%20I%E2%80%99ll%20close%20it%20with%20a%20quote%20from%20a%20great%20real%20one%3A" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>actual</em> reason why we have Liquid Glass</a></p><blockquote><p>As for <em>why</em>, it should be enough to justify Liquid Glass simply for the sake of looking cool. I opened this piece with a quote from a great fictional philosopher. I’ll close it with a quote from a great real one:</p><p></p></blockquote><p>So, I am likely coming to Louie’s PoV. Maybe when we lost visual richness, not richness in texture, but richness in clarifying the various fields to the point that it almost felt intuitive</p><blockquote><p>When we lost visual richness in software, we lost a requirement to think about design with regards to how it looks.</p><p><a href="https://lmnt.me/blog/visual-richness.html#:~:text=When%20we%20lost%20visual%20richness%20in%20software%2C%20we%20lost%20a%20requirement%20to%20think%20about%20design%20with%20regards%20to%20how%20it%20looks." rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Visual Richness</a></p></blockquote><p>I highly recommend reading the <a href="https://lmnt.me/blog/visual-richness.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">whole essay</a>. It accepts that iOS 7 allowed for more apps, but it also encouraged <em>less designed </em> apps. And that thoughtfulness was part of what made the Apple apps and visual design special. </p><blockquote><p>In the real world, we have so many indicators: color, shape, material, lighting, form, texture, weight.</p></blockquote><p>So, while Liquid glass does bring a version of material and lighting (and hence shadows, reflection and refraction), they feel like form without function. My reaction is stemming from what I’ve observed so far based on what Apple thinks the best of Liquid Glass is going to be from the keynote and WWDC presentations. </p><p>However, if the past few beta cycles have a theme, and the past few months have a theme, it’s that Apple is also (anachronistically) conceding to user feedback. So, consider mine just another voice that can be added to make a movement. This is not against Liquid Glass, I think it’s “cool.” I just don’t understand its visual purpose. I believe that I am open minded to be able to listen to them explain why. </p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/apple/" target="_blank">#apple</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/design/" target="_blank">#design</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/mac/" target="_blank">#mac</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/mac-os/" target="_blank">#macOs</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/os-x/" target="_blank">#osX</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/ui/" target="_blank">#ui</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/ux/" target="_blank">#ux</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://gurupanguji.com/tag/visual-design/" target="_blank">#visualDesign</a></p>