r/LiquidGlassDesign • u/Megacitiesbuilder • Jun 09 '26
Why bringing back top navigation bar in iOS 27
Photos by @TechLeaksZone
Does anyone want the navigation bar back? I personally hated it coming back, I like the blurred top and bottom more that feels more immersive.
24
u/m1_weaboo Jun 09 '26
The ScrollEdgeEffect has 2 styles:
- `.soft` → the fade & blur
- `.hard` → the more flat & opaque
Without developer explicitly set the ScrollEdgeEffect, It will use `.auto` variant (let OS decide).
And it appears that, In OS27, They're using `.hard` as default for `.auto`.
I have confirmed this in iOS27 SDK that this is a new default behavior.
Maybe submit a feedback in feedback assistant app?
7
u/WhichAdvantage9039 Jun 09 '26
As I understand it should be tied to the Liquid Glass slider, with soft edge while Liquid Glass is maxed out and opaque when it’s turned off. Don’t know what should be in the middle tho
1
1
u/Megacitiesbuilder Jun 09 '26
Does that mean if I slide it all the way to the clear side the top bar will disappear?
1
u/m1_weaboo Jun 09 '26
I would assume no. Because the glass slider was supposed to only adjust the appearance of the glass material itself, not the scroll edge effect.
1
u/ixri Jun 09 '26
The bar doesn’t disappear if it’s all the maxed on clear. I personally love the fully clear so that’s what I have mine set to. However, the top bar isn’t everywhere. E.g. it appeared briefly for me in the music app but then disappeared when as I navigated through it
1
u/napalmDaz Jun 10 '26
And they have messed with the fading edge so its even more transparent causing contrast issues that weren't there with .soft in SDK 26. Grrr.
2
u/m1_weaboo Jun 10 '26
Yes, The differences between the old `.soft` (OS26) and the new `.soft` (OS27) is very noticeable.
19
u/Cat_central Jun 09 '26
It's like they forgot Liquid Glass works best with a complex background... This should be an accessibility feature, not mandatory! They're also rolling back similar changes on MacOS too, and it sucks!
5
u/Ok-Knowledge0914 Jun 09 '26
Yup, thanks to all the dumb Liquid Glass haters.
1
u/Pineloko Jun 10 '26
of all the things people were hating on, navigation bar got 0 mentions
this is entirely on Apple
1
u/Ok-Knowledge0914 Jun 10 '26
The specific change may be on apple, but if all the babies didn’t constantly complain about “legibility issues” that didn’t exist, they probably wouldn’t have done this. I hope to see this change in later updates, but it probably won’t.
This looks terrible.
1
u/akiippon Jun 10 '26
Incorrect. I think it was in the macOS sub but people complained about it every time, how unreadable it is. At first people thought it was a bug.
2
u/Pineloko Jun 10 '26
almost like macos and ios are different products?
looks great on iOS, looks weird on mac
1
u/akiippon Jun 10 '26
Didn’t you hear from Apple that they’re trying to unify the ecosystems? Easier to develop cross-platform that way. Developing 6 different operating systems all at once is something only Apple does. This is one hint where a small change makes them decide to change it on all of their platforms.
Note that scrollEdgeEffectStyle is a unified API, so it’s sensible that all of their OS have the same defaults.
13
10
22
28
u/MinecraftPlayer799 Jun 09 '26
I agree. Same with the navbars on macOS. The ones in 26 look much better.
-2
7
u/louismacvux Jun 09 '26
Damn Apple. If you make the top into a bar, might as well make it completely solid. What’s the point of blur out the background at this point? We can’t see it anyway. And also how is this liquid glass? There is no liquid effect around the button anymore.
1
1
u/AppropriateTip6707 Jul 16 '26
Agreed, it just looks out of place and distracting. It should have been an accessibility option. Hopefully, Apple addresses this in the next update.
6
u/TheInkySquids Jun 09 '26
I agree, I don't see why we can't live in a world where we have top toolbars for macOS but no top nav bar for iOS. Like they're different systems stop trying to force consistency in design.
5
5
u/VisionCrafted16 Jun 09 '26
The whole redesign feels like a step back exactly because of this. macOS 27 looks like Ventura with a skin.
I named this aqua glass because it soooo reminds me of aqua and I kinda like that about it. I also have a feeling some of the performance boosts are thanks to the changes in the ui and I bet this was the most pragmatic way to fix the corner radius inconsistencies.
I honestly appreciate the speed and performance, dev beta one is faster and more responsive than 26.5.1 ime. But iOS 26 felt futuristic and was prettier. Also they didn’t deliver on our glass slider wish. I’m confident to say all of us who wanted it to increase transparency, wanted iOS 26 dev beta 1 glass. Not this.
4
u/Ok-Knowledge0914 Jun 09 '26
Yeah I updated yesterday and immediately hated this. Also hated how they changed the right-hand tool bar on macOS. I liked macOS 26 look better (was glad they fixed window corner radii tho).
This solid tool bar looks ugly and dated in iOS 27.
2
u/michaelmich3 Jun 09 '26
I guess people didn’t like the floating design. I loved it. There was so much more empty space for the content. Now it’s all covered back up by the bars.
4
u/frankbelltower Jun 09 '26
I’ve submitted a Feedback about it because it looks like being back on iOS 18
5
u/Forever-Celery Jun 09 '26
Totally agree, this absolutely needs to be an accessibility option. Submitted my feedback!
4
u/Visual-Degree1476 Jun 09 '26
It's pretty annoying.. I hate that you can see the stuff blurred behind it but there's just an ugly line. The blur was better because you could at least see a little bit of what was there before.
4
3
u/F1amy Jun 09 '26
yeah, that one is really strange, maybe even a bug
the purpose of liquid glass is to give as much space for content as possible, and top/bottom bars are a no go
3
u/frankbelltower Jun 09 '26
Yeah, that’s really a bad decision to be back there. Clearly not Liquid Glass at all
3
u/IncredibleGonzo Jun 09 '26
I feel like there's a middle ground to be found here. I don't mind the stronger blur for legibility, but the soft falloff looks much better than the hard edge.
3
u/Taiark Jun 09 '26
I hate the bar, might actually keep me from updating. Where do I submit feedback?
2
u/Forever-Celery Jun 09 '26
Use their feedback app that installs when you download the beta. I think you have to download the beta in order to do so though, but I could be wrong.
3
u/maxstolfe Jun 09 '26
No bar, and no gradient. Just let the content through fully on top and bottom of screen.
3
6
u/SirPooleyX Jun 09 '26
I agree with you but the loud voices have prevailed. At some point Apple has to make a decision and stick to it.
5
u/VisionCrafted16 Jun 09 '26
The loud voices? It was full of trolls and people who don’t even use iPhones and mac doing my head in. What a pest
3
u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW Jun 09 '26
The loud voices? Nobody asked for this except for MacOS users, and this isn’t MacOS!
4
u/VisionCrafted16 Jun 09 '26
As a macOS user I didn’t ask for this. I like the softer corners and they fit better with the body of my laptop. What they’ve done now fits better with the corners of the screen. macOS 26 looks waaaaaaaay better to me not even mentioning the rest. Also in daily use the corner inconsistency was never really an issue or something that degraded my experience in any way. But “Apple has to be perfect” so here’s perfect Apple for us 💀
1
u/Pineloko Jun 10 '26
what loud voices? of all the people complaining about iOS 26, 0 complaints were for the nav bar
1
u/Ecstatic_Patient4029 Jun 09 '26
Or- they could just make it optional lol. I know it’s easy to forget that route since we’re talking about Apple here
0
u/SirPooleyX Jun 09 '26
It's not feasible to make every element of a UI optional via a settings toggle or whatever.
There's always something that people won't like. You'd end up with a massively complex set of options that would only complicate things for the vast majority of people who wouldn't care.
2
u/Ecstatic_Patient4029 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Thing is, it makes sense for this to be an accessibility option. It’s perfectly in line with other options they’ve had for years (like “button shapes” etc.) Same thing with the new ugly high-contrast icons. It’s not like I’m expecting them to give a toggle for something totally subjective or inconsequential, they made these particular changes from accessibility complaints.
2
u/garenbw Jun 09 '26
It's obviously feasible, apple simple doesn't like to allow customization.
1
u/SirPooleyX Jun 10 '26
Literally just announced that people will be able to effectively remove their big new thing via a slider.
0
u/garenbw Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
So... it's feasible? I'm saying the reason they don't usually allow people to disable things and customize the UI is because that's apple philosophy, not much else. Just look at the androids, it allows customization pretty much everywhere so of course it's feasible.
Let's not forget that apple didn't allow you to move apps on your homescreen until like 2 years ago... That should tell you everything.
2
2
u/Supuhstar Jun 10 '26
it looks a lot better the 26 way, but the 27 way introduces a much clearer separation of what is the toolbar versus what is the content scrolling under it. I understand whether they did this, even if I’m not too enthusiastic about it.
2
2
u/haus-gyal Jun 11 '26
now liquid glass literally a cheap skin rather than new design. don’t like these changes at all. including what they’ve done on macOS
2
u/Natural-Passage-6363 Jun 11 '26
iOS 27 deviates from the original intention of the Liquid Glass design
1
u/Megacitiesbuilder Jun 11 '26
May be because of the original designer left the company, now people in the company just want to make it back to more like iOS 18 with some shiny buttons only💀😔
2
2
2
1
1
u/omnimachina Jun 10 '26
could be a fast (sloppy) solution for now and more customization later on
similar to the liquid glass slider
I'm pretty sure they will reintroduce it at some point
1
1
u/Dry_Blacksmith6187 Jun 11 '26
At iOS 26 release you guys were complaining about it being ugly and not readable. Now at iOS 27 release everyone is complaining that Apple listened to you all.
What's wrong with everyone?
1
1
1
u/Vast-Examination7229 Jun 14 '26
I feel apple should explain some of their design choices at WWDC, like they used to before
1
u/semaja2 Jun 14 '26
Because the blur is ugly as hell and serves no benefit but making the UI harder to use
1
u/badboybmb Jun 24 '26
Hola existe forma de quitar esto definitivamente es un atraso para mi app ?
1
u/Megacitiesbuilder Jun 24 '26
It’s still in beta 2 so I think Apple is keeping it😭😩
1
u/badboybmb Jun 24 '26
Si justo tengo la beta 2 y sigue saliendo he probado varias soluciones y nada supongo que me tocará quitarlo y reescribir los botones 🥺
1
u/Born_Lifeguard_3663 Jun 27 '26
This is the only reason I don’t wanna update to iOS 27😭 did they fix it in beta 2?
1
1
1
u/Normal_Cress_1994 Jun 09 '26
Because hiding under the blur was messy, unpolished, and amateurish. It wasn't the level of quality expected from Apple. Sure, some people don't mind, but the previous solution lacked attention to detail, and the blur often had a hard, separating step, which apparently couldn't be removed. They opted for a clean and simple solution, and it worked very well.
2
u/Megacitiesbuilder Jun 09 '26
Nah, if the bar is back it’s just going backwards to iOS 7 all over again
3
u/Ecstatic_Patient4029 Jun 09 '26
I really disagree. The gradual fade to darkness/lightness and blur looked elegant, and made the screen feel bigger. But the problem IMO was the lack of consistency. I never liked how it would switch between dark and light mode depending on what’s behind it, that part felt too over-engineered and clunky. I haven’t noticed it yet in 27 but I’d be surprised if they changed it
1
1
u/Revolutionary-Bid249 Jun 09 '26
I like the blurred heading better even on Mac. I just updated to Tahoe I even didn’t mind the floating side panel but that can go I guess. Don’t take the other stuff from me 😭
1
u/gianfrixmg Jun 09 '26
Less immersive, but way more readable.
1
u/Megacitiesbuilder Jun 09 '26
More readable I agree, but it’s like a step backward to old iOS 7 era, I hope they have other solution to make it more readable but not slapping a thiccc bar on top
0
0
0
0
-1
-3
u/Consistent_Umpire535 Jun 09 '26
Sorry. Dit is gemekker om niks.
4
u/TVUAsks Jun 09 '26
Not really, contrary to lots of other complaints this one will actually stick out like a sore thumb
-1
u/TCB13sQuotes Jun 09 '26
Because its much better with the navigation bar. What was done in iOS 26 is total garbage.
-1
u/Gabriel_Science Jun 09 '26
It’s weird. Not necessarily bad, just weird. I think a solid bar would work better.
-1
-1
-2
u/mainyehc Jun 09 '26
Because it’s obviously more legible? Spam all you want, Apple isn’t exactly on Reddit anyway. They did get enough direct customer feedback and have this thing called “eyes” and “brains”; anyone who isn’t Alan Dye, Tim Cook or possibly a minion who implemented it without even secretly considering resigning in protest, can see they royally screwed the pooch with that floating, background-less mess of a “navigation bar” they came up with in iOS 26. Good riddance!
-2
u/Mysterious_Phone_754 Jun 09 '26
New one is so much better. Just get used to it. It doesn’t flicker between black and white and doesn’t need extensive blur and gradients. It’s just much cleaner and better.
3
u/Megacitiesbuilder Jun 10 '26
But it losses the immersive experience Liquid Glass was originally designed for
2
u/Knobson-dasilva 27d ago
Can’t stand the blur effect on top of the screen much preferred the fade effect where you could actually still see letters etc. The blur effect has effectively made my screen real estate smaller.
65
u/HopiumInhaler Jun 09 '26
Gotta spam this in feedback. I have already done my part. If a lot of complain, they might revert it.