Third developer betas for iOS 26 and macOS 26: Apple de-glosses UI even more
Apple continues to reduce the special look of its new operating systems in the interests of legibility. The trend is towards frosted glass.
Maps app in iOS 26 Developer Beta 3: Significantly less transparent.
(Image: Screenshot Mac & i)
Apple presented the third developer version of its new operating systems on Monday evening. In iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 Developer Beta 3, the new "Liquid Glass" interface has been further softened by Apple. This makes the user interface less "beautiful", but much easier to read. To describe it with a metaphor: Window glass gradually becomes frosted glass, where only a little of what lies beneath a surface can be seen.
Fixes and improvements
Strangely enough, however, this does not apply to all apps. For example, the transparency in the Photos app is even greater, while the icon bar in Podcasts or Apple Music is now easier to read because it has become more opaque. It is still possible to further reduce the transparency by making a setting in the accessibility features if Apple's adjustments are not yet sufficient in terms of readability.
Apple has also further optimized the Control Center, which was initially very difficult to see. The icon colors have been worked on so that they are easier to see. Apple also provides new wallpapers for iOS, iPadOS and macOS. For macOS 26 (Tahoe), the company has even selected a new standard image, a scene from the mountain lake of the same name in California, which is also available in animated form.
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VM graphics errors, iPad innovations
Stability has been improved in some cases and in others. For example, macOS 26 Developer Beta 3 showed graphics errors in a virtual machine, which even lead to apps (such as weather) freezing, which we did not know from Beta 2. However, native installations are not affected by this. Apple initially had difficulties delivering the new macOS beta to users of Apple Silicon Macs, the beta simply did not appear. However, this has now been rectified.
iPadOS 26 allows you to briefly enlarge the optional cursor by wiggling it, just like in macOS, and you can now swipe between full-screen and window apps, and external screens no longer fall asleep when you are on a video call. There are also interface improvements in Safari on the iPhone. Finally, Apple Maps in iOS 26 shows a new search function in the code, although this has not yet been released: in the future, it should be possible to make entries in natural language ("Show me the best bakery with Wi-Fi in the area"). Offline maps now also recognize fog warnings.
Currently, it is still unclear when Apple will make the first public betas of its new operating systems available. This is expected to happen this month.
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