BEHIND THE GLASS

A spa day for all of Apple's operating systems!

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It took Apple more than a decade to redesign the very thing that powers its empire: iOS. From the bold, flat aesthetic of iOS 7 to the glossier, reflective Liquid Glass design of iOS 26, we've seen Apple evolve its visual language in subtle waves. Yet, when I pointedly asked about the one stubborn app icon still clinging to skeuomorphism - the camera app - I was told, with Appleesque politeness, that the glassy lens icon now "perfectly blends into the new design paradigm." Uh-huh. Welcome to WWDC25, a keynote that felt less like a revolution and more like a renovation - complete with some very shiny wallpaper.

DESIGN FIRST, QUESTIONS LATER

At first glance, it was Liquid Glass that stole the show. Think light refractions, subtle animations, and a glowy depth that dances as you move your phone. It's polished, impressive, and made to impress in 20-second Instagram reels. It's also Apple's way of preparing us for a screenforward, wearables-led future. Zoom out for a second, and you'll notice this aesthetic started somewhere else entirely: VisionOS. The Apple Vision Pro wasn't just a moonshot device - it was a preview of this layered, depth-first UI. The fact that iOS and iPadOS have now borrowed liberally from VisionOS tells us one thing: Apple is fully committed to Spatial Computing. Expect Vision Pro 2 sooner rather than later, and expect it to resemble a pair of Oakleys more than scuba gear.

IPADOS FINALLY GETS SERIOUS

Now, if there was one actual headliner that deserved the main stage, it was iPadOS 26. This is where Apple decided to finally stop treating the iPad like a supersized iPhone. Multiple resizable windows? Yes. Overlapping window support? Yes. Even Preview makes the jump from macOS to iPadOS - meaning PDFs, scanned docs, and file compression are all now native to your iPad.