Diving into Apple’s Liquid Glass
Episode
101 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Fundraising & VC, Leadership, Design & UX
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓Liquid Glass Accessibility Issues: The transparent design system makes text extremely difficult to read on iPhones, especially with colorful wallpapers. Users must enable accessibility settings like reduced transparency to restore usability, defeating the design's purpose. The effect works better on Mac and Apple Watch due to larger screens and less system UI prevalence.
- ✓iPadOS Windowing Evolution: iPadOS 26 finally introduces free-floating windows and proper mouse pointer support after years of Stage Manager's controlled approach. This represents Apple acknowledging users want traditional desktop functionality on iPad hardware, potentially making iPads viable laptop replacements for more workflows despite increased wait times for background tasks.
- ✓Tesla Revenue Crisis: Tesla reports third consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue decline, with regulatory credit sales comprising 50% of net income in 2024. The company earned $11 billion from selling emissions credits over the past decade, but Trump administration plans to eliminate these programs threaten this revenue stream while boycotts impact core sales.
- ✓Spotlight Power User Features: MacOS 26 adds clipboard history (eight hour limit), keyboard shortcuts, and app launcher capabilities to Spotlight, creating a Raycast Lite experience. Users access clipboard history with Command-Space then Command-4, though power users note limitations compared to third-party tools that offer months-long history and pinned items.
- ✓Uber Women Driver Preference: Uber rolls out driver-rider gender matching in Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Francisco after success in Saudi Arabia and Europe. The company reported 2,717 serious sexual assault incidents in 2021-2022, down from previous periods. Feature requires identity verification to prevent misuse and may increase women driver participation.
What It Covers
Apple releases public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and watchOS 26 featuring controversial Liquid Glass design. Tesla opens first diner in Hollywood amid revenue decline. Amazon acquires AI wearable company Bai. Uber launches women-only driver preference feature.
Key Questions Answered
- •Liquid Glass Accessibility Issues: The transparent design system makes text extremely difficult to read on iPhones, especially with colorful wallpapers. Users must enable accessibility settings like reduced transparency to restore usability, defeating the design's purpose. The effect works better on Mac and Apple Watch due to larger screens and less system UI prevalence.
- •iPadOS Windowing Evolution: iPadOS 26 finally introduces free-floating windows and proper mouse pointer support after years of Stage Manager's controlled approach. This represents Apple acknowledging users want traditional desktop functionality on iPad hardware, potentially making iPads viable laptop replacements for more workflows despite increased wait times for background tasks.
- •Tesla Revenue Crisis: Tesla reports third consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue decline, with regulatory credit sales comprising 50% of net income in 2024. The company earned $11 billion from selling emissions credits over the past decade, but Trump administration plans to eliminate these programs threaten this revenue stream while boycotts impact core sales.
- •Spotlight Power User Features: MacOS 26 adds clipboard history (eight hour limit), keyboard shortcuts, and app launcher capabilities to Spotlight, creating a Raycast Lite experience. Users access clipboard history with Command-Space then Command-4, though power users note limitations compared to third-party tools that offer months-long history and pinned items.
- •Uber Women Driver Preference: Uber rolls out driver-rider gender matching in Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Francisco after success in Saudi Arabia and Europe. The company reported 2,717 serious sexual assault incidents in 2021-2022, down from previous periods. Feature requires identity verification to prevent misuse and may increase women driver participation.
Notable Moment
One reviewer discovered their Apple developer beta access was permanently revoked because they misspelled their own name on the application form. Apple compares application information against Apple ID data with zero tolerance for discrepancies, leaving users banned for life with no appeal process or customer service response available.
Episode Transcript
Support for this show comes from Figma, where teams turn ideas into the world's best digital products. Now, there's a faster way to make those ideas real. Figma Make. It's an AI powered prompt to code tool that turns your ideas or your Figma designs into interactive code backed prototypes in minutes. Whether you're a designer, product thinker, or founder, Figma Make helps you go from concept to something real, fast. And it all looks and feels just like your brand. Figma Make, a Prompt2Go tool for making ideas real. Try it now at figma.com/vergecast. That's figma.com/vergecast. Hello, and welcome to Vergecast, the flagship podcast of making things translucent, then a little less translucent, then a little more translucent again. I'm Jake Kastronakis, executive editor of The Verge. Neelai Patel, David Pierce. Those guys aren't here. They're at home. They have newborns. They're taking some time off on parental leave. They'll be back later this year. Today, we've got a really fun show. Later on, Verge Transportation editor Andy Hawkins is gonna join us, and Eater LA editor Matthew Kang is gonna come on. And we're gonna be talking about Tesla and the new Tesla diner. I thought this was a joke when they announced it. It is a real thing. They really announced this and launched a diner. Then the Thunder round is back new and improved as always. But first, it's a big Apple Week, so we've got to talk about Apple. We've got two Verge reviewers here to talk about it. In the studio with me, Vyseong. Hello. And we've got Antonio d Benedetto. Hello. So breaking news, like, an hour ago, right before we recorded this, Apple launched the public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26. I think, like, everything except Everything is the OS. No. Everything is 26. Everything is 26. Everything is 26 now. You can now download them. You can try them out. Maybe don't if it's, like, your primary device. But if you got an extra iPad lying around, this is its moment. So big features across the board. There's liquid glass, the brand new design style that is across all the new operating systems. There's new games app. There are lots of power user features, particularly on the Mac and the iPad. So, v, Antonio, both of you have been testing these for a while because you've been in the developer beta. I just got my hands on with these because okay. I got banned from the developer beta. Did you know that you can get kicked out of the development beta? I did not know you. What did you do? I know. I didn't think I did anything. So I so this is, like, new ish. Right? Like, Apple used to require you to, like, pay a $100 or something to get in the developer program if you wanted to get the developer betas. And a lot of people were like, yeah. Sure. But recently, you've been able …
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“MacOS 26 adds clipboard history (eight hour limit), keyboard shortcuts, and app launcher capabilities to Spotlight, creating a Raycast Lite experience. Users access clipboard history with Command-Space then Command-4, though power users note limitations compared to third-party tools that offer months-long history and pinned items.”
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