Apple's New Liquid Glass Design Will Remind You of 2007 Windows Vista

Apple is often ridiculed for adding features that have been on Android phones and Windows PCs forever, and its grand presentations showing them off as something fresh and groundbreaking are largely to blame for the infamy.

WWDC25 was, sadly, not an exception. Among other things, the company announced Liquid Glass, a new translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings. It does look pretty sleek on both iPhones and Macs, but you might find the design familiar. Where have you seen it? Oh yes, on 2007 Windows Vista, not the best OS by Microsoft but certainly the most stylish, or at least that was the idea.

Naturally, Apple describes the new look as something not only beautiful but also useful: it should help users focus on content, apparently. "A simplified, streamlined Camera layout helps users keep their attention on the moment they’re capturing, and the Photos app is updated to feature separate tabs for Library and Collections views. In Safari, web pages flow from the top edge to the bottom of the screen, enabling users to see more of the page."

I doubt this semi-transparent design will help with focus, but I admire the copywriters who had to come up with something other than, "Look, it's just pretty."

This is not the only "innovation" at WWDC25. Apple also introduced Call Screening, which protects users from unwanted callers by warning them about suspicious calls. I'm sure I don't have to explain further: you've seen it on Androids for years.

"Call Screening builds on Live Voicemail and helps eliminate interruptions by gathering information from the caller and giving users the details they need to decide if they want to pick up or ignore the call. And for the times when a user is stuck on hold, Hold Assist notifies the user when a live agent is available."

I wonder what other "breakthroughs" we'll see next year. The problem is Apple doesn't let people customize their phones and then presents features that they could have done themselves years ago as something fantastic.

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