🔍 Context
The built-in screenshot editor in iOS and iPadOS (Markup tool) only allows users to crop images using rectangular frames. While this is sufficient for basic editing, it lacks flexibility for those who wish to tailor the screenshot to the aesthetics of iOS itself — which relies heavily on rounded shapes and smooth UI elements.
⸻
🚫 Current Limitation
• After taking a screenshot and opening it in Markup, users can only crop in rectangular or square formats.
• No option is available to apply rounded corners to the crop.
• As a result, many users are forced to use third-party apps just to achieve a basic rounded-edge crop, which feels unnecessary for such a common need.
⸻
✅ Proposed Solution
Add a rounded corner cropping feature to the screenshot editor.
This could be implemented as:
• A toggle to activate “Rounded Crop”.
• A radius slider (or predefined corner radius presets).
• Optional: an export option to save the result with transparent background, useful for designers and mockups.
⸻
🎯 Why it matters
• Aligns better with the iOS design language (cards, notifications, widgets, etc.).
• Saves time for users who currently have to rely on external editing apps.
• Greatly improves the presentation of screenshots for social media, UI/UX mockups, blogs, and professional use cases.
• Useful across many professions: developers, designers, content creators, educators, marketers.
⸻
📷 Visual Example
Here’s a mockup to illustrate the proposed feature:
(Add your image here)
⸻
💡 Bonus Suggestion
Allow exporting with a transparent background when cropping screenshots — especially useful for rounded crops or mockups placed on colored backgrounds.
General
RSS for tagExplore the art and science of app design. Discuss user interface (UI) design principles, user experience (UX) best practices, and share design resources and inspiration.
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Hello everyone,
I'm very impressed with the Liquid Glass design introduced in iOS 26, especially how native app icons automatically adapt to the system's display mode (dark or light).
This brings me to a question: Is it possible to make a website shortcut icon created via Safari's "Add to Home Screen" feature adapt to Dark Mode in the same way?
For native apps, we can use tools like Icon Composer and asset catalogs (Assets.xcassets) to provide different icons for each mode. It would be a huge improvement for web clips if we could achieve the same with existing web technologies like apple-touch-icon or the Web App Manifest.
If anyone has figured out a way to do this, I would greatly appreciate it if you could share your knowledge.
Thanks in advance!
日本語の原文:
iOS 26から導入されたLiquid Glassデザインについて。
ネイティブアプリのアイコンがシステムの表示モード(ダークモード/ライトモード)に合わせて自動で最適化されるようになりました。
そこで疑問に思ったのですが、Safariから「ホーム画面に追加」機能を使って作成するWebサイトのショートカットアイコンは、ネイティブアプリと同じようにダークモードに対応できないのでしょうか?
ネイティブアプリの場合は、Icon Composerなどのツールでアセットカタログ(Assets.xcassets)を使い、モードごとのアイコンを用意できますよね。
Web側でも、apple-touch-iconやWeb App Manifestといった既存の仕組みを使って、アイコンを動的に切り替えられるようになると、Webクリップの使い勝手がさらに向上すると思うのですが
もし、すでに何らかの方法で対応されている方がいらっしゃれば、ぜひその知見を共有していただけると嬉しいです。
As a very exclusive Apple only I want to share my thoughts on the new iOS 26 update, which I recently installed on my iPhone 16. While I genuinely appreciate Apple’s drive for innovation and personalization, this update introduces visual and stylistic changes that, in my opinion, compromise what has made iOS feel uniquely Apple for so long.
Liquid Glass & Home Screen Aesthetics:
When I first saw previews of the “Liquid Glass” design, I was excited. I assumed it would add more flexibility to things like the home screen customization — something like an optional effect that builds on the popular app tinting feature introduced in the previous iOS version. But instead, it appears that the Liquid Glass look is now the default and, more concerningly, unavoidable.
The result is a visual experience that feels dramatically more bubbly and less refined. App icons appear more rounded and inflated in a way that — and I say this as constructively as I can — reminds me more of Android or Samsung’s One UI than of Apple’s signature design language. For someone who’s chosen Apple specifically because of its clean, crisp, and elegant UI, this shift is disappointing. iOS has always felt visually mature and thoughtfully minimal. With this update, it starts to feel overly stylized and visually heavy, which I don’t associate with Apple’s identity.
Camera App – Icon Design:
While I don’t have major concerns with the layout of the Camera app itself, the new Camera app icon is something I feel very strongly about. The previous design was balanced, clear, and professional — instantly recognizable. The new icon, is completely different, and it has more the camera that look like the actual iPhone camera, which I can respect the want to identify the app the iPhone. But this is not the effect I felt it has, I feel like it is less professional than before, which again makes me think a little bit about androids. This minor change feels bit because icons are what we see every day, and this one doesn’t feel quite right for Apple.
Along with the new camera icon, the other new icons like the notes app, and the slight change in the message app icon, these small shifts aren’t ones I was overly pleased with, kind of felt like something that wasn’t broke and didn’t need fixed
Messages App:
The Messages app is where I felt the biggest disconnect. The updated keyboard with the “keys” looking more bubbly which again, makes me think android. And with the new monogram icons (initials in thick fonts with purple backgrounds), make the app feel — again — much more like an Android UI. While that might sound superficial, it doesn’t make me feel like it’s an iPhone.
As someone who’s always preferred the Apple system, I’ve come to expect a particular standard of visual design — one that’s distinct from other platforms. This new look blurs that line. The once refined look of Messages is not as clean and simple as it used to be. I also preferred the gray background for monogram icons. The new colors and heavy fonts draw attention in ways that don’t feel as clean and simplistic which I have loved Apple for in the past.
Control Center:
Another area where I noticed a slight change is the Control Center. It’s not a big difference to the previous one, which I liked. The main difference I noticed was the brightness and sounds “bar” seems more elongated. Not a major difference but I would rather see the older design if I were to be honest.
What I Did Like:
There are some positives: I think the new lock screen notification styling works well, and the Liquid Glass effect looks great in that specific context. I actually really like the looks that it has with the notifications on the lock screen, having it be that transparent gives a clean and simple look. Lots of the new things that can be done in this update are very nice and convent, the more customization is great.
Final Thoughts:
To be clear, I offer this feedback not because I’m resisting change, but because I value what makes iOS feel like iOS. This update, while visually bold, feels like a departure from Apple’s strengths — the clean and simplistic look. If there’s one big takeaway I hope you’ll consider, some of the new looks that have been put in place give a feeling that’s not Apple, and more Android. it’s that many of these new visual styles would be better received as optional customizations, not system-wide defaults.
I would love to see an update to help fix some of this. I don’t believe there is a way to “un-update” my phone but if I could I would, even though some of these new things do look and feel good.
Hello,
I used icon composer to create an icon for my Mac OS app and it seemed to have worked. I see the app icon everywhere except for window expose or stage manager.
Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
In Apple Vision Pro, I want to implement a HUD page similar to the one in Medivis' SuricalAR product (i.e. the UI is fixed on the screen field of view rather than in space). How should I do it?
Hello -
I have an older app on the store, iAchieved, that suddenly stopped working properly on iOS 18. You can see it on the store, here:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iachieved/id1069338478
It still opens runs, and I can try to enter a new item, but something is wrong with the date, so that the "Done" button does not appear. And since it does not, I cannot tap it and create the item.
I'm not a developer, I don't code, I only designed the app and had someone build it for me.
But, if you can put it in layman's terms, any idea what's causing this?
Thanks so much for any insight you can provide,
-- David
I have an app that displays a MapView. While I am in light mode everything is fine. I can scroll around the map and my overlays (made by UIVisualEffectView containing an UIGlassEffect) stay light and look well!
As soon as I change my phone to dark mode, depending on what's underneath the buttons (a light residential area or darker wooded areas) some of my buttons change color. But not all, only where it's supposedly lighter or darker underneath. This makes my whole UI look strange. Some buttons bright, some dark.
Is there a way to lock a "color" or interfaceStyle to the effects-view? In light mode everything is fine, but in dark mode it just looks super strange.
Post:
In macOS 26 Betas 1–3, the system applied an automatic dark-mode fallback for app icons. This ensured consistency across the Dock and Finder even when developers hadn’t provided dark assets.
Since Beta 4, this fallback was removed. As of Beta 7, icons now rely entirely on developer-updated assets. The result is mixed light and dark icons in the Dock, breaking visual consistency and making app recognition slower in dark mode.
Observed behavior:
• Icons without dark assets are displayed in their original light version.
• Some apps (e.g. Final Cut Pro) show a gray border treatment that feels inconsistent with the rest of the UI.
• The fallback applied in Betas 1–3 is completely absent.
Expected behavior:
System should provide a fallback rendering until developers supply proper dark assets, or offer a toggle in System Settings → Appearance (e.g. “Force Dark Icons”).
This is still present in Beta 7. Is there any plan to restore the fallback mechanism or provide a user option?
Hello Apple… used to love my phone and your company… not so much with this God awful new emoji update… Just why? They are giant, we can see them from Alaska, the whole Keyboard is not user friendly at all. It takes me (and reading the feedback from other people - Im not the only one with this problem) ages to find the one I want to use, even with the group icons on the bottom… no, they don’t help. I always ether miss type or just don’t use at all. It takes extra time to use emoji now so I completely stopped using it which sucks. It’s 2025 where time is precious and no one wants to spend extra seconds looking for emojis on this awful new layout you created. Apple developers used to be good about listing to users feedback, I hope you do it in this case, because this is just absolutely terrible and no, you can’t get used to it. I never write reviews anywhere and thought it would take a bit to get used to it… no no and no. This update is awful, please bring it back to normal size so we don’t waste our time and nerves. Thanks.
Hi,
App Image: What is the best format - jpg, tiff, giff, psd or ai?
What is the maximum and minimum number of items the app can contain?
Please advise.
Thanks
Development environment:
Simulator: iOS 26 beta 3 iPhone 16 (for testing)
Simulator 2: iPadOS 26 beta 3 iPad Air 13 inch (M3) (for testing)
Connected Device: iPadOS 26 beta 3 iPad Pro 11 inch (M4) (for testing)
Dev Device: macOS Tahoe 26 beta 3 Macbook Air
When using the NavigationSplitView element, the sidebar has a built-in panel toggle button.
However, when I click the toggle button to toggle the sidebar section in SwiftUI 26 on both simulator 2 and the connected device, it has a slight animation glitch before going back to normal. What's going on?
This is my code for the specific view that has the NavigationSplitView (and all views are connected through TabViews):
RecordsPage.swift
Here are image references:
When I clicked the toggle:
After 1~2 seconds:
These images are in the state of the panel being hidden.
我设计了一个可以键盘输入的蓝牙HID设备,被iphone蓝牙连接后,iphone无法弹出系统键盘,我正试图寻求可以通过修改HID设备代码来解决的方案。
What type of licensing does it apply for the usage of FONT_FAMILY='System' in Apple/iOS app?
Hi everyone 👋 I’m a new iOS developer working on my first app and I’ve run into a frustrating visual bug involving my app icon during the launch/close transition.
Issue:
When I use Icon Composer (the new tool introduced for iOS 26) to generate my app icon, I consistently see a thin white border or “fringe” around the icon only during the transition animation (when the app opens or closes). It disappears once the animation ends.
What I tested and confirmed:
• I exported the exact same design directly from Adobe Illustrator as a 1024×1024 PNG, fully opaque, RGB color mode, background color filling the entire canvas (no transparency, no borders, no rounded corners).
• When I place that exported PNG directly into the AppIcon asset catalog in Xcode, the icon renders perfectly — no white fringe appears, just a slightly darker shade of blue during transitions (expected and acceptable).
• But when I generate the icon using Icon Composer, the white edge always appears, even if I disable effects, use full coverage layers, or only keep a flat color layer.
Notes:
• Tested on iOS 26 (latest beta) using Xcode 16.
• The issue seems specific to Icon Composer’s export format or metadata — maybe it’s not stripping alpha correctly or something related to the squircle mask?
• I followed all recommended specs: 1024×1024 px, PNG, sRGB, no transparency, exported from Illustrator at 72ppi with solid background.
Even tested without the logo, just the icon made with icon composer
Is anyone else experiencing this issue with Icon Composer exports?
Is there an official recommendation to avoid this during transitions or should I simply avoid Icon Composer for production icons for now and stick with Illustrator / Figma exports?
Thanks so much
Here’s a visual example:
Good evening. I have come up with this amazing and revolutionary idea that is going to change the ent world for the better.
I’m a 23 year old Design Engineer from Greece and I would like to come to direct contact with the Apple Design Team, in order to discuss this project and the best case scenario, sell it to you.
The foldable iPhone is not a good idea. Its not revolutionary and it’s going to leave a big black mark in Apple history.
With my idea, the whole world will see again the greatness of the biggest company in history.
Hi,
is it me or latest beta has pronlem with brightness?
i have iPhone 16 pro, and now i must keep disabled auto brightness , at keep slider more or less at maximum, in order to clearly see the screen.
fabrizio
I have accidentally missed the sign up window for the UX Writing lab by 1 hour, but I'd still love to join it if at all possible. I have had this lab several times in the past and it was always very informative.
I have a time tracking app that helps people make the most of their time. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timelines-time-tracking/id1112433234
I'm looking for guidance on how to improve copywriting in my onboarding sequence, on my paywall, and overall throughout the app.
Thank you for considering. My Apple ID is lukas[at]glimsoft.com.
I've made the code in xcode for apple watch with 2 swift view (contentView.swift and interfaceController.swift).The swift for sound and haptic feedback is in InterfaceController.swift. But the the sound does not appear with haptic feedback in apple watch after complete the xcode.
the app is done but no sound appear with haptic feedback when rotate apple watch digital crown. when crown rotated but sound appear
code
import WatchKit
import AVFoundation
import WatchKit
class InterfaceController: WKInterfaceController {
// ... your UI elements
func playSelectionHapticAndSound() {
// Play a haptic feedback pattern
WKInterfaceDevice.current().play(.success)
// Load and play a selection sound effect
guard let soundURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "spin", withExtension: "wav") else { return }
do {
let player = try AVAudioPlayer(contentsOf: soundURL)
player.play()
} catch {
print("Error playing sound: \(error)")
}
}
}
Building an app to edit the various parameters of digital musical instruments. A typical user would have perhaps max 6 instruments, out of the hundreds of possibilities.
Would like to structure the app with a global window, menu, etc which would be a free download. The user could download editor inserts for their particular set of instruments and ignore all of the others. The downloaded editors would show as options in a menu.
It seem like more than a widget but less than a library. Building a monolithic app containing all possible editors doesn't seem like an option, but separate full-app editors for each piece of gear doesn't sound right either.
Any suggestions out there?
Thanks very much
Brian
I'm using .glassEffect(.clear) on a transparent circle over a gradient background. While it's closer to clear than the plain glass effect, it't not really clear, like clear glass. Here is the code. Is there a glass effect that really looks like clear glass?
Circle()
.fill(.clear)
.frame(width: 180, height: 180)
.glassEffect(.clear)