PromptsEdge
FreeGitHubDesign

Liquid Glass Design

iOS 26 Liquid Glass design system — dynamic glass material with blur, reflection, and interactive morphing for SwiftUI, UIKit, and WidgetKit. Use when building iOS 26 Liquid Glass UI in SwiftUI, UIKit, or WidgetKit.

affaan-m on GitHub

Curated by PromptsEdge from a public repo · MIT license. All credit goes to the author.

What is this skill?

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 use

  • 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:

swift
Text("Hello, World!")
    .font(.title)
    .padding()
    .glassEffect()  // Default: regular variant, capsule shape

Customizing Shape and Tint

swift
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

swift
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:

swift
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:

swift
@Namespace private var namespace

GlassEffectContainer(spacing: 20.0) {
    HStack(spacing: 20.0) {
        ForEach(symbolSet.indices, id: \.self) { item in
            Image(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:

swift
@State private var isExpanded = false
@Namespace private var namespace

GlassEffectContainer(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

swift
let glassEffect = UIGlassEffect()
glassEffect.tintColor = UIColor.systemBlue.withAlphaComponent(0.3)
glassEffect.isInteractive = true

let visualEffectView = UIVisualEffectView(effect: glassEffect)
visualEffectView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
visualEffectView.layer.cornerRadius = 20
visualEffectView.clipsToBounds = true

view.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 contentView
let label = UILabel()
label.text = "Liquid Glass"
label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
visualEffectView.contentView.addSubview(label)
NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
    label.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: visualEffectView.contentView.centerXAnchor),
    label.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: visualEffectView.contentView.centerYAnchor)
])

UIGlassContainerEffect for Multiple Elements

swift
let containerEffect = UIGlassContainerEffect()
containerEffect.spacing = 40.0

let 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

swift
scrollView.topEdgeEffect.style = .automatic
scrollView.bottomEdgeEffect.style = .hard
scrollView.leftEdgeEffect.isHidden = true

Toolbar Glass Integration

swift
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

swift
struct MyWidgetView: View {
    @Environment(\.widgetRenderingMode) var renderingMode

    var body: some View {
        if renderingMode == .accented {
            // Tinted mode: white-tinted, themed glass background
        } else {
            // Full color mode: standard appearance
        }
    }
}

Accent Groups for Visual Hierarchy

swift
HStack {
    VStack(alignment: .leading) {
        Text("Title")
            .widgetAccentable()  // Accent group
        Text("Subtitle")
            // Primary group (default)
    }
    Image(systemName: "star.fill")
        .widgetAccentable()  // Accent group
}

Image Rendering in Accented Mode

swift
Image("myImage")
    .widgetAccentedRenderingMode(.monochrome)

Container Background

swift
VStack { /* content */ }
    .containerBackground(for: .widget) {
        Color.blue.opacity(0.2)
    }

Key Design Decisions

DecisionRationale
GlassEffectContainer wrappingPerformance optimization, enables morphing between glass elements
spacing parameterControls merge distance — fine-tune how close elements must be to blend
@Namespace + glassEffectIDEnables smooth morphing transitions on view hierarchy changes
interactive() modifierExplicit opt-in for touch/pointer reactions — not all glass should respond
UIGlassContainerEffect in UIKitSame container pattern as SwiftUI for consistency
Accented rendering mode in widgetsSystem 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 = true in 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

Related skills

View all →