---
title: "Liquid Glass"
slug: liquid-glass
section: reference
access: public
summary: "Liquid Glass is Apple's design material introduced at WWDC25: a translucent, refractive, depth-implying surface treatment intended for the functional / control layer of an app rather than over content. Documented in the Apple Human Interface Guidelines · Materials, it adapts to t…"
status: published
asset_base: /assets
home_href: /
toc_enabled: true
talk_enabled: false
agent_view_enabled: true
copy_buttons_enabled: true
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last_updated: 2026-04-29
categories: [Tools]
subject-type: tool
last-reinforced: 2026-04-29
fading-since: null
archived: false
---

## Liquid Glass

Liquid Glass is Apple's design material introduced at WWDC25: a translucent, refractive, depth-implying surface treatment intended for the functional / control layer of an app rather than over content. Documented in the [Apple Human Interface Guidelines · Materials](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/materials), it adapts to the substrate behind it and is meant to live in chrome (controls, sheets, docks, headers), not as a content background. As of April 27, 2026, Liquid Glass is the visual direction for [Guardian](/guardian)-app v3 across drawer, search, dock, composer, and header surfaces, realized in React Native via `expo-blur`.

### Origin

Liquid Glass entered the [Guardian](/guardian)-app codebase on April 27, 2026, during the v3.0.0 build-65 ship. At hour 06 the operator asked for adoption framed as *"quite dramatic and impressive"*; Codex installed the [`swiftui-liquid-glass`](https://github.com/Dimillian/Skills) skill (located locally at `/Users/paulhan/.codex/skills/swiftui-liquid-glass/SKILL.md`) and translated the SwiftUI-native API into React Native via `expo-blur`. The first primitive landed at `src/design/primitives/GlassSurface.tsx` and was applied across drawer sheet, search field, bottom dock, composer, and header in the same hour. (See hour 06:00 of 2026-04-27.)

### Role in 1Context

Liquid Glass is currently a [Guardian](/guardian)-app concern but is named here because it will likely propagate to the menu-bar Swift shell of `1context-public-launch` (the macOS surface that ships as `1ctxt`) and to any future 1Context surfaces presenting Apple-platform-native chrome. Treating it as a shared concept lets multiple consumer surfaces refer to one definition rather than rebuild the vocabulary per repo. The page is also named in Your Context under the **Native formats over manufactured intermediates** disposition: when Apple ships HIG, reach for it before inventing house style.

### History

(brief — first appearance this week.) Adoption was concentrated in the April 27 build window. Hour 07 spawned a separate Codex agent (session `019dcde2-…`) reading the `swiftui-liquid-glass` SKILL.md as a second-opinion review pass — the operator wanted Liquid Glass review out of one author's hands. Hour 08 derived the architectural rule **"glass lives in functional / control layer, not over content"** with subagents `019dcdf7` (UI audit) and `019dce02` (gradient / background research) triangulating the question. Hour 11 converged the composer submit button through a 5.5-high design subagent (session `019dceba-…`) on plus-inside-glass-capsule + `lucide ArrowUp` + no nested glass button. Hour 12 framed the v3 ship across chat, dashboard, and settings as a "Liquid Glass surface audit," replacing the older "amateur affair" framing. The same day pulled the operator comment *"great work today looks like a real app isntead of a hobby now"* (13:07:55 UTC).

### Current State

As of 2026-04-29, [Guardian](/guardian)-app v3.0.0 build-65 ships Liquid Glass across drawer / search / dock / composer / header. The architectural rule — glass in chrome, never over content — is enforced through the `GlassSurface` primitive's intended use sites. Apple HIG and the WWDC25 design talks remain the canonical reference; the Dimillian skill remains the local source-of-truth for SwiftUI patterns. No equivalent primitive yet exists in the menu-bar Swift shell.

### Relationship to Other Subjects

[Guardian](/guardian) is the primary consumer. [Apple Vision](/apple-vision) sits adjacent as another Apple platform-level vocabulary the operator works with — though unrelated technically (Vision is the on-device CV API, Liquid Glass is a UI material), the dispositional pairing is the same: reach for the platform's native vocabulary before inventing house style. [Agent UX](/agent-ux) is the agent-facing-chrome counterpart on the design-discipline axis: AX governs how stateless agents read pages, Liquid Glass governs how human eyes read app chrome. `expo-blur` is the React Native realization layer and may earn its own concept page if the cross-platform parity story grows.

### Open Questions

Whether the Swift menu-bar shell of `1context-public-launch` should adopt Liquid Glass — and whether the SwiftUI-native API or a translation layer is the right path — is unresolved. Whether the architectural rule "glass in chrome, never over content" generalizes to other Apple materials is unstated. The exact WWDC25 session links suggested in the proposal are not yet verified; HIG remains the load-bearing reference until they are.