At WWDC 2025, Apple changed how we interact with our devices with the introduction of a new user interface it calls Liquid Glass. Apple CEO Tim Cook described it this way: “Expressive. Delightful. But still instantly familiar.”

The old saying, “if you wait long enough, everything comes back into style eventually,” is usually attributed to the fashion industry, but it seems to apply to pretty much anything, especially mobile phone interface design.

But my feelings about Liquid Glass are complicated. Yes, it looks nice. No, in most cases (the Apple Watch’s Workout app being the most obvious exception), Apple doesn’t seem to have messed too much with the navigational structure and location of controls,