Apple Refines Its Liquid Glass Vision, but Google Maps Still Works Better

People don’t talk about operating-system design until it annoys them. Apple can make thoughtful tweaks to Safari and users won’t cheer, but if it alters the layout of the Photos app, the internet explodes. And it exploded even more last year, when Apple unveiled Liquid Glass, its new design language, with iOS 26. Inspired by its namesake material, it is a smooth, transparency-heavy interface that takes some cues from the skeuomorphic design language of the 2000s and more from visionOS, the software for Apple Vision Pro. I loved the look of it — it’s one of the most original, instinctive, and inspired bits of software design by a major company in years — but a loud contingent of customers were upset, hating the look and the functional challenges it raised for them.