At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Design. Can you expand on how Liquid Glass helps with navigation and focus in the UI? Liquid Glass clarifies the navigation layer by introducing a single, floating pane that acts as the primary navigation area. Buttons within this pane seamlessly morph as you move between sections, and controls can temporarily lift into the glass surface. While avoiding excessive use of glass (like layering glass on glass), this approach simplifies navigation and strengthens the connection between menus, alerts, and the elements that trigger them. What should I do with customized bars that I might have in my app? Reconsider the content and behavior of customized bars. Evaluate whether you need all the buttons and whether a menu might be a better solution. Instead of relying on background colors or styling, express hierarchy through layout and grouping. This is a good opportunity to adopt the new design language and simplify your interface. What are scroll edge effects, and what options do we have for them? Scroll edge effects enhance legibility in controls by lifting interactive elements and separating them from the background. There are two types: a soft edge effect (a subtle blur) and a hard edge effect (a more defined boundary for high-legibility areas like column sorting). Scroll edge effects are designed to work seamlessly with Liquid Glass, allowing content to feel expansive while ensuring controls and titles remain legible. How can we ensure or improve accessibility using Liquid Glass? Legibility is a priority, and refinements are ongoing throughout the betas. Liquid Glass adapts well to accessibility settings like Reduce Transparency, Increase Contrast, and Reduce Motion. There are two variants of glass: regular glass, designed to be legible by default, and clear glass, used in places like AVKit, which requires more care to ensure legibility. Use color contrast tools to ensure contrast ratios are met. The Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) are a living document offering best practices. The colors and materials pages are key resources. Do you have any recommendations for convincing designers concerned with consistency across Android and Web to use Liquid Glass? Start small and focus on high-utility controls that don't significantly impact brand experience. Native controls offer familiarity and predictability to users. Using the native controls makes sure your app feels at home on the device. Using native frameworks provides built-in accessibility support (dynamic type, reduce transparency, increase contrast). Native controls come with built-in behaviors and interactions. Can ScrollViews include Liquid Glass within them? You can technically put a glass layer inside a scroll view, but it can feel heavy and doesn't align with the system's intention for Liquid Glass to serve as a fixed layer. Think of the content layer as the scrolling layer, and the navigational layer as the one using Liquid Glass. If there is glass on the content layer it will collide into the navigational layer. What core design philosophy guided the direction of iOS 26, beyond the goal of unification? The core design philosophy involved blurring the line between hardware and software, separating UI and navigation elements from content, making apps adaptable across window sizes, and combining playfulness with sophistication. It was about making the UI feel at home on rounded screens. Can we layer Liquid Glass elements on top of each other? Avoid layering Liquid Glass elements directly on top of each other, as it creates unnecessary visual complexity. The system will automatically convert nested glass elements to a vibrant fill style. Use vibrant fills and labels to show control shapes and ensure legibility. Opaque grays should be avoided in favor of vibrant colors, which will multiply with the backgrounds correctly. What will happen to apps that use custom components? Should they be adapted to the new design within the next year? The more native components you use, the more things happen for free. Standard components will be upgraded automatically. Look out for any customizations that might clash. Think about what is the minimum viable change, where your app still feels and looks very similar to what it did. Prioritize changes in core workflows and navigational areas. There are a number of benefits to using native components including user familiarity, built-in accessibility support, and built-in behaviors and interactions. Will Apple be releasing Figma design templates? Sketch kits were published on Monday and can be referenced. The goal is to ensure the resources are well-organized, well-named, and easy to use. It's a high priority.

Hi, With the Duo's guidance on side-aligned vertical toolbar buttons, is there any updated guidance on iPad toolbar button placement? It would seem natural for an app on iPad Mini, for example, to have the same toolbar placement and layout as it does on a Duo. Thanks!

Area: iPadOS / UIKit / Accessibility Summary: In iPadOS 27, the floating shortcut bar above the software keyboard (Undo, Redo, Copy, AutoFill) and the bottom keyboard toggle buttons (Globe, Microphone, Handwriting) suffer from severely reduced touch targets. This makes them difficult to tap accurately, leading to frequent mis-taps and a degraded text input experience. Steps to Reproduce: Open any app with a text input field (e.g., Safari, Notes) on an iPad running iPadOS 27. Bring up the software keyboard. Observe the floating shortcut bar and the bottom row of keyboard toggles. Attempt to tap "Undo", "Redo", or the handwriting/globe buttons. Expected Behavior: The UI elements should meet Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for minimum touch target size (44x44 pt). Alternatively, enabling "Larger Text" or "Display Zoom" in Accessibility settings should appropriately scale these system UI components. Actual Behavior: The buttons are visually cramped and their touch targets are tiny. Increasing system text size has no effect on these UI elements. It is extremely difficult to hit the correct button, and users frequently trigger the wrong action. Environment: Device: A16 iPad OS Version: iPadOS 27.0 (Build: [IpadOS27) App: System-wide (Safari, Notes, etc.) Impact: This affects accessibility and basic usability. Users with larger fingers, motor impairments, or those relying on Accessibility features are significantly impacted. The UI feels overly compressed and unintuitive.

The new top blur/overlay in iOS 27 feels significantly heavier and more visually intrusive than the previous progressive blur treatment in iOS 26. In iOS 26, the blur transitioned more naturally into the content, allowing the background and artwork to remain visually continuous. In iOS 27, the stronger and more defined overlay creates a noticeable boundary at the top of the screen, making it feel like a separate UI layer rather than part of the background. I believe the previous progressive blur approach was more elegant and better aligned with the Liquid Glass design language. It would be great if Apple could consider: Reducing the overall blur intensity Making the transition more gradual Removing the noticeable hard visual boundary Preserving more of the underlying content and artwork I have attached an iOS 26 vs. iOS 27 comparison for reference.

I'm currently in the WWDC26 Group Lab for Icon Composer and they will not allow questions about the newest features in Icon Composer and visionOS app icons. Why are visionOS app icons not supported? Why are they so different that this isn't possible? Are there any plans to include them? In an age where Apple is increasingly encouraging developers to create apps across multiple platforms (resizability), this becomes an even more reasonable question to ask. Why is this one platform not getting the love??

We are qualifying a production WidgetKit extension on an iPhone 17 running iOS 26.6.1. both use App Group group.com....app.widgets. The extension reads small snapshots from the App Group. Precise personal Home data uses NSFileProtectionComplete; a separate book-only Lock projection uses NSFileProtectionCompleteUntilFirstUserAuthentication. Public Daily and non-personal control state are stored separately. Does Apple provide a supported deterministic mechanism to cause or observe the actual system-hosted WidgetKit provider performing a fresh App Group read during each phase below? Locked after first unlock. Rebooted, before the first passcode unlock. Relocked after first unlock. We need to attribute the read to the exact extension executable/process, establish the lock phase without unlocking or opening the protected data through the observation mechanism, and distinguish “the provider did not run” from “it ran but observation was unavailable.” Cached widget pixels, file attributes and later recovery cannot establish whether a fresh provider read was allowed or denied. WidgetCenter reload requests and timeline dates are opportunistic and have not produced deterministic invocations in these phases. Direct provider invocation, XCTest helper processes, debugger-controlled lifecycle substitution and manually reading files from the host do not establish the required system WidgetKit lifecycle. We cannot weaken file protection or add artificial production AppIntent/background capabilities solely to force this test. Please clarify which applies: A. A supported deterministic XCTest, CoreDevice, Xcode or WidgetKit test mechanism exists. If so, what setup, trigger and logging method should we use? B. WidgetKit scheduling in these states is intentionally opportunistic and no deterministic public test mechanism is provided. If so, what supported evidence does Apple recommend for verifying this protected-file contract? This request concerns test methodology; we are not claiming locked/BFU protection has passed.

I’m preparing my existing App Store app for iOS 27 and want to test interface resizability on iPhone Duo. I cannot find the iPhone Duo simulator in Device Hub. Is it currently available? If so, what Xcode version/runtime is required and how do I add it? Thanks! I have the latest Xcode 27 from downloads section and Device Hub 27. Where is 27.1 download?

All of a sudden, I am not able to create a new event on my iPhone calendar and have it repeat. Repeat does not appear anywhere in my calendar is not restricted in any way. It worked before, but after the current beta update, it does not work

This is the message I keep getting but my logo is not transparent and does not contain alpha channels. In Base44 - not sure what to do next - any ideas? Invalid large app icon. The large app icon in the asset catalog in “WixOneApp.app” can’t be transparent or contain an alpha channel. For details, visit: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/app-icons. (90717)

i suggested to customize the Bottom navigation bar with a classic rectangular version and a new circular version, such as the Liquid Glass option. Especially for iPhone SE screens feedback ID: FB24611709

I have an issue when trying to upload my app through transporter saying the icon has an alpha channel and the format is wrong. I have changed this to make it the correct dimensions and not transparent etc but the same issue is coming up. Any advice on what to do?

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Hi, I work with CG movies using sRGB as the working color space, and I’m trying to better understand how macOS handles color in movie files. For CG movies created in sRGB, what color tagging would Apple recommend to preserve the intended appearance in QuickTime Player? For example, would 1-13-1 be considered appropriate in this case? Thanks!

I have a map application in iOS and want to show the location of the parking pay stations. These are machines which dispense a parking ticket. There is no cashier. Is there an SF Symbol to represent this? I was thinking some combination of parking P and currency symbol $, which seems a little hokey. While I am only in the USA, in general a version would be needed for different languages and countries. For example, E (estacionamiento) is the symbol for parking in Latin American Spanish, and the Euro symbol would be used in the EU. If not in SF Symbols, is there something commonly used for this? I don't want to re-invent the wheel.

Hi, I’m beta testing iOS 27 as well as macOS 27. When I paste something into Messages, such as a YouTube link or another URL, after I send it, the message appears twice on both my iPhone iOS 27 and Mac running macOS 27. Why is this happening? Is this a known bug in iOS 27/macOS 27?

New Unicode Characters are coming to introduce new glyphs for iOS 27.4, iOS 28.0, and iOS 29.0. iOS 27.4 New Scripts Indic Siyaq Numbers Ottoman Siyaq Numbers New Extensions Bengali MN (U+09FC and U+09FE) Kannada MN (U+0CF2) Lao MN (Unicode 12.0 and Unicode 15.0) Devanagari MT (U+A8FC and U+A8FD) iOS 28.0 New Script Extensions SF Armenian (U+0560 and U+0588) SF Hebrew (U+05CF) Noto Serif Balinese (Unicode 14.0 and 16.0) Noto Sans Kharosthi (Unicode U+10A34, U+10A35 and U+10A48) Noto Sans Kaithi (U+110C2 and U+110CD) Noto Sans Chakma (U+11147) Noto Sans Khojki (U+1123F-U+11241) Noto Sans Newa (U+1145A, U+11460-U+11461) Myanmar MN (Myanmar Extended-C) Noto Sans Takri (U+116B9) Noto Serif Ahom (U+11740-U+11746) Noto Sans Lisu (U+11FB0) Kefa (Ethiopic Extended-B) New Arabic Extensions Arabic Extended-B (All) Arabic Extended-A (Rest (All)) Arabic Extended-C (U+10EC7) New Symbols Dingbats (U+275F and U+2760) Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows (Rest (All)) Enclosed Alphanumeric Supplement (Rest (All)) Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs (U+1F53E and U+1F53F) Ornamental Dingbats (All) Alchemical Symbols (U+1F773-U+1F774, U+1F779-U+1F77F) Geometric Shapes (U+1F780-U+1F7D9) Supplemental Arrows-C (All up to Unicode 13.0) Chess Symbols (U+1FA00-U+1FA53) Symbols for Legacy Computing (U+1FBF0-U+1FBF9) iOS 29.0 New Scripts (All Noto) Vithkuqi Todhri Old Sogdian Sogdian Old Uyghur Chorasmian Elymaic Dogra Dives Akuru Nandinagari Zanabazar Square Soyombo Sunuwar Makasar Kawi Cypro-Minoan Tangsa Medefaidrin Nushu Toto

I would like to suggest reducing the excessive empty space between the main content and the bottom interface area throughout iOS 27, particularly on smaller displays such as the iPhone SE and iPhone mini. In several areas of the system UI, there appears to be more empty space than necessary above the bottom interface area. On smaller displays, this reduces the amount of content that can be shown at once and makes less efficient use of the available screen space. For example, in the attached comparison, the bottom spacing measures approximately 1.9 cm using the ruler in Apple Freeform. Reducing this spacing to approximately 1.4 cm would allow more content to be displayed while still maintaining comfortable visual spacing and readability. I suggest that iOS 27 reduce this bottom spacing, along with the related margins and padding, from approximately 1.9 cm to 1.4 cm on smaller displays, such as the iPhone SE and iPhone mini. I believe this adjustment should be applied consistently throughout the iOS system rather than being limited to a specific app or interface. This would be especially beneficial for smaller iPhones, where every bit of available screen space matters. I would love to see Apple consider this improvement for iOS 27 and review the bottom spacing throughout the system to make better use of the available display area. The goal is to provide more usable screen space while maintaining readability, accessibility, and the overall visual balance of the interface. feedback ID: FB24360982

In the most recent tvOS 27 betas, the icons for Apple’s apps on tvOS gained Liquid Glass refraction effects that change as you move your finger over the remote’s touch surface. This can be most clearly seen in the icons for Photos and Podcasts. How can our third-party apps make use of these effects on tvOS, which isn’t supported by Icon Composer? Is the intention for third party apps to continue using flat design while Apple’s own apps use Liquid Glass?

Hi guys, I've exported the images with transparency for a Vision OS icon but I still keep getting a weird shadow on the top of the icon when I focus on it. Do you guys had this issue before?

I would like to see the old design of the battery indicator panel (top right) that was in ios 18-26. Right now, this one, which is currently available in iOS 27, looks too boring. I also mean the Home panel (bottom bar). It could be switched. So that you can keep it on all the time. (In iOS 26, it disappears after a couple of seconds) In my opinion, it betrays its sophistication, and I liked it when constantly displayed. Fight overheating when performing simple tasks, it also eats up your phone, which is not a good thing.

Dear Apple, I am trying good to find things that can be upgraded, and trust me here, the MagSafe 4 (or keep its name MagSafe 3 if you want) will be truly amazing. Adding a yellow to mimic macOS window controls will be amazing, and exactly how apple want things to be, they want it to feel like 1 ecosystem, where everything is in sync together. I gave the code in the other post, and here it is again, please really take this in for macOS 27. I tried installing the beta on a separate APFS volume on my Mac, but since I have no other backup device, I decided to stop. I would love to send feedback through feedback assistant, but since im not running beta, I shouldn't really use it, so here I am. Here is some code to help with this: (THIS CODE IS TO SHOW THE BASE OF THE IDEA, PLEASE DONT COPY-PASTE, DOUBLE CHECK IT FIRST. Consider that I didn’t code this myself, I got help. Don’t expect any code from me to be mine) #include <stdbool.h> #include <stdint.h> typedef enum { MODEL_AIR, MODEL_PRO } MacModel; typedef enum { LED_OFF, LED_SOLID_AMBER, LED_SOLID_YELLOW, LED_SOLID_GREEN, LED_PULSING_AMBER, LED_PULSING_YELLOW } LEDState; uint32_t current_cycle_seconds = 0; MacModel get_mac_model(void); uint8_t get_battery_soc(void); uint8_t get_charge_limit(void); uint32_t get_charger_wattage(void); bool check_hardware_faults(void); void apply_led_hardware_state(LEDState state, bool pin_high); void update_magsafe_led(void) { MacModel model = get_mac_model(); uint8_t soc = get_battery_soc(); uint8_t limit = get_charge_limit(); uint32_t wattage = get_charger_wattage(); bool overcharge_fault = (soc > (limit + 2)); bool critical_error = check_hardware_faults() || overcharge_fault; bool slow_charger = false; if (model == MODEL_AIR && wattage < 30) { slow_charger = true; } else if (model == MODEL_PRO && wattage < 70) { slow_charger = true; } LEDState normal_state; if (soc >= 90 || soc >= limit) { normal_state = LED_SOLID_GREEN; } else if (soc >= 50) { normal_state = LED_SOLID_YELLOW; } else { normal_state = LED_SOLID_AMBER; } LEDState active_state = normal_state; bool should_pulse = false; if (current_cycle_seconds < 10) { if (critical_error) { active_state = LED_PULSING_AMBER; should_pulse = true; } else if (slow_charger) { active_state = LED_PULSING_YELLOW; should_pulse = true; } } bool led_pin_high = true; if (should_pulse) { if (current_cycle_seconds % 2 != 0) { led_pin_high = false; } } apply_led_hardware_state(active_state, led_pin_high); current_cycle_seconds++; if (current_cycle_seconds >= 20) { current_cycle_seconds = 0; } } (THIS CODE IS TO SHOW THE BASE OF THE IDEA, PLEASE DONT COPY-PASTE, DOUBLE CHECK IT FIRST. Consider that I didn’t code this myself, I got help. Don’t expect any code from me to be mine) This should show: Pulsing Amber for critical issues Pulsing yellow for slow chargers, under 30w for Macbook air and if under 70w for Macbook pro. ( can be edited in the future for the leaked MacBook ultra) Pulses for 10 seconds, and shows the light of the battery percentage for 10 seconds. Amber: 0-50% battery Yellow: 50-90% battery Green: 90%+ battery or reached charging limit. This will also be very useful if there is a slider to customize what range should be amber, yellow and green. Why? Turning MagSafe into a real dashboard that is more useful than charging or charged, will make it amazing, covering a bit of the price hikes the world is facing. Other than that, apple always wanted things to be as useful as possible. If MagSafe now has what I mentioned, from a glance from afar, people will know their SoC. Please take this in consideration, and I already appreciate the work done on it if it's being tested. I am pretty sure there will be high interest in the topic. Thanks to whoever is working to it, and hope it come alongside macOS 27. Another person suggested MagSafe turned green when reached charging limit, and it happened in macOS 26. May mine be considered too? Trust me, it will be worth it, making MagSafe from just a wire to a smart dashboard. I know apple care about this, and let MagSafe be an upgrade, covering the price hikes and shortages. Thank you very much, and im sure you will do it to make MagSafe the best charger ever. Many thanks, Alyaman