643: You Go to Squircle Jail

What It Covers

ATP discusses WWDC 2025 announcements including iOS 26's liquid glass redesign, Apple Intelligence foundation model APIs for developers, new CarPlay features, controversial floating UI elements, and the new Games app alongside Switch 2 hardware impressions.

Key Questions Answered

• •Foundation Model API Access: Apple opens on-device LLM access to all developers for free, enabling local speech transcription, text summarization, and AI features without server costs or network requirements. This matches capabilities of private cloud compute but runs entirely locally, unlocking potential for offline AI features across millions of apps.
• •Floating UI Design Problem: iOS 26 introduces floating toolbars with margins around screen edges, forcing content behind translucent bars where users cannot interact with it. Safari web pages display footer links beneath these bars, requiring users to manually pull content up to access obscured elements, creating usability issues without clear benefits over edge-to-edge designs.
• •CarPlay Ultra Expansion: First CarPlay Ultra vehicles launched last month with Aston Martin, featuring new liquid glass design language that better matches automotive manufacturers' gradient-heavy interfaces. Updates include tapbacks in messages, pinned conversations, widgets, live activities, and non-fullscreen call notifications that preserve map visibility during incoming calls.
• •Live Translation Limitations: On-device translation works across Messages, FaceTime, and Phone with noticeable latency visible in demos. While convenient for emergency situations, cloud-based models like Google's offer superior accuracy. Apple prioritizes privacy over quality by keeping processing local rather than offering optional cloud translation for better results with good network connections.
• •Icon Composer Layered System: New icon design uses stacked frosted glass vector layers instead of pixel grids, enabling automatic dark mode, tinted, and clear variants. Developers build icons from multiple translucent vector shapes with adjustable frost levels, creating structured icons that adapt across system themes but requiring complete redesigns for existing App Store applications.