Apple Refines Liquid Glass UI in iOS 26 Beta 2 with Major Fixes and New Features

What you need to Know

• Apple released iOS 26 Beta 2, addressing major issues with the new Liquid Glass UI.

• Liquid Glass design mimics optical glass effects, aiming to modernize the iOS visual experience.

• Apple shows responsiveness to early feedback, refining features ahead of public iOS 26 release.

• iOS 26 Beta 2 includes under-the-hood improvements, signaling a stable and polished final build by fall.

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Apple has just released iOS 26 Beta 2 with a wave of long-overdue enhancements, primarily aimed at the widely contentious Liquid Glass interface, which debuted at WWDC 2025. The eye-catching design is meant to give the user interface of the iPhone, iPad, and other Apple products an innovative makeover by emulating the way actual glass behaves, such as refraction of light and semi-transparency. While the design has been praised for its visual ambition, the implementation in the initial developer beta was less than optimal especially in the areas of readability and usability.

Liquid Glass UI Gets a Visual Overhaul in Control Center

One of the strongest criticisms from initial testers of iOS 26 came in the form of how the Liquid Glass design affected the Control Center.

The semi-translucent background made functional items such as sliders, toggles, and buttons invisible against the Home Screen, making them hard to engage with or even spot. In iOS 26 Beta 2, Apple has seriously addressed these grievances by using a more sophisticated background blur effect that effectively covers up the content below. This improves the legibility of Control Center and functionally convenient without diminishing the fundamental visual theme of Liquid Glass.

Notifications get sharper but still need improvement.

Another prevalent grievance from iOS 26 Beta 1 users concerned the legibility of notifications. On lighter or darker backgrounds, these essential UI components were virtually illegible. Apple has enhanced the text focus and contrast of notifications in the second beta, delivering a cleaner and slightly improved user experience. Though still not complete, these enhancements demonstrate Apple's continuing efforts to get the intended new interface right before releasing it to the general public later this fall.

iOS 26 Beta 2 Offers Functional Improvements Apart from the UI

Apart from cosmetic improvements, iOS 26 Beta 2 presents a range of new features and quality-of-life changes. Of particular interest is the addition of a new Accessibility section on the App Store product pages, enabling users to gain a clearer view of how apps support users with different needs. This is in keeping with Apple's long-standing commitment to inclusive design and accessibility.

Furthermore, iCloud syncing is also available on iPads for the Journaling app, which means users can easily keep entries up to date on devices. The addition enhances the app's integration into the wider Apple ecosystem. Another practical addition is the inclusion of order tracking on Apple Wallet, which lets users see package information and shipping status right within the Wallet environment again, reinforcing its functionality beyond mere payments and passes.

Apple Music Radio Widget and Beyond

Apple also introduced a fresh Apple Music Radio widget, providing music enthusiasts with more control and visibility over their listening experience directly from the Home Screen. This minor but important addition contributes to the widget system that Apple has been gradually building up over the years. Other small tweaks and under-the-hood optimizations are also included, though not all are yet visible to the end user.

Though iOS 26 remains a few months off from its formal public release, the present momentum suggests that Apple is listening intently to developer input and making adjustments based on reports of user experience. The Liquid Glass redesign is a daring move in UI progress, and while it fumbled initially, Beta 2 shows that Apple can quickly and effectively make course adjustments.

Whether you’re a developer testing out new APIs or a regular Apple fan watching from the sidelines, iOS 26 Beta 2 is shaping up to be a major milestone in Apple’s journey toward a more modern, visually immersive, and functional mobile operating system.