Key Highlights:

• Apple released a new developer gallery showing apps already using Apple Liquid Glass.
• Apps like Trello, AllTrails, Fantastical, and Monzo appear in the showcase.
• The gallery highlights navigation, toolbars, overlays, and animation redesigns.
• Liquid Glass is rolling out across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26.

Apple has released a new developer gallery showing how third-party apps are already adopting Apple Liquid Glass across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26. The showcase highlights interface redesigns now appearing inside real apps rather than preview demos, signaling that Apple Liquid Glass is moving into everyday software experiences across the Apple ecosystem.

The gallery includes apps across productivity, weather, navigation, streaming, finance, and fitness categories. Together, they demonstrate how Apple’s new translucent interface layer changes navigation behavior, visual hierarchy, and content interaction.

What is Apple Liquid Glass?

Apple Liquid Glass is a translucent interface material designed to let navigation elements float above content instead of blocking it. As a result, toolbars, menus, and controls now adapt visually to what appears beneath them while remaining readable and interactive.

By publishing a developer gallery, Apple is offering practical implementation examples instead of abstract design documentation. This move helps developers understand how Liquid Glass behaves across different screen sizes, interaction types, and platform layouts.

At the same time, the gallery signals that Apple’s next-generation interface language is already entering production apps rather than remaining limited to system previews.

Which apps already show Apple Liquid Glass in action?

Apple’s gallery presents multiple real-world examples of Liquid Glass integration across widely used applications. These examples demonstrate how navigation layers now feel lighter and more responsive while preserving content visibility underneath.

For example, AllTrails introduces floating navigation buttons that sit directly above trail photography while smoothly collapsing into a compact navigation bar during scrolling. Fantastical moves calendar controls into a bottom Liquid Glass toolbar, which frees additional vertical space for events and schedules.

Similarly, Trello adopts translucent tab bars that soften the appearance of project navigation, while Monzo refreshes grouped toolbar icons using native animation transitions designed around the new material layer.

Meanwhile, CARROT Weather simplifies its interface structure and redesigns map interactions with updated overlays that respond more naturally to movement across radar views.

These examples collectively show how Liquid Glass reshapes both utility-focused apps and content-driven interfaces.

How does Liquid Glass change navigation across Apple platforms?

One of the most visible changes introduced by Apple Liquid Glass involves how navigation elements behave during interaction. Instead of remaining fixed and opaque, interface controls now adapt dynamically as users scroll, search, and switch views.

In several showcased apps, tab bars collapse smoothly into compact layers that stay accessible without blocking screen content. Search controls also appear as floating overlays instead of opening separate pages. As a result, navigation feels continuous rather than segmented.

Elsewhere, translucent toolbars allow imagery, text, and background colors to remain partially visible beneath interface elements. This approach preserves visual context while maintaining clarity.

Because the effect remains subtle, Apple positions Liquid Glass as a functional interaction improvement rather than a decorative visual change.

Why are developers repositioning toolbars and controls?

The gallery also reveals a noticeable shift in where controls appear inside modern app layouts. Several developers are moving navigation from top bars toward bottom toolbars to improve reachability and accessibility during one-handed use.

Fantastical demonstrates this transition clearly by relocating calendar navigation controls to the lower portion of the interface. Similarly, Bigin CRM reorganizes Contacts, Companies, and Products into a bottom Liquid Glass bar that supports faster workflow switching.

These adjustments align with Apple’s broader interface strategy, which increasingly prioritizes thumb-friendly navigation across mobile devices.

How do overlays and animations benefit from the Liquid Glass layer?

Another important change involves how overlays behave across apps that previously relied on full-screen transitions. Liquid Glass enables layered interactions that preserve background visibility during navigation steps.

For example, FotMob opens its season picker as a translucent overlay rather than replacing the entire screen. Likewise, DROMI introduces file-selection panels that appear above the storyboard canvas while keeping annotations visible underneath.

Elsewhere, LazyFit places workout playback controls directly over exercise footage, while Trello introduces keyboard translucency that allows board colors to remain faintly visible beneath typing interfaces.

These changes help maintain continuity between interaction steps and reduce visual interruption during multitasking.

What does Apple’s developer gallery reveal about its design strategy?

Apple’s decision to highlight third-party implementations suggests Liquid Glass is intended as a universal interface material rather than a system-only feature.

The gallery includes productivity tools, creative platforms, streaming apps, financial services, and reading applications. This variety indicates that Apple expects developers across categories to adopt the design layer as part of standard interface modernization.

At the same time, the examples reinforce Apple’s effort to align iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 under a shared visual language that behaves consistently across devices.

Why Apple Liquid Glass signals a broader interface transition

The developer gallery confirms that Apple Liquid Glass is already shaping how apps present navigation, overlays, and interaction layers across Apple’s upcoming operating systems. As more developers adopt the translucent material system, users are likely to experience interfaces that show more content, reduce visual interruption, and maintain continuity between actions across platforms.