WhatsApp testing Apple’s iOS 26 liquid glass design in Beta: Here’s what to expect
WhatsApp for iPhone is testing Apple’s upcoming iOS 26 Liquid Glass design language, spotted in the latest beta version. The update will bring transparent, glass-like UI elements that react to light and movement.
Apple’s upcoming iOS 16 update will introduce a new design language called Liquid Retina to the latest iPhone 17 series. The new UI will bring translucent layers that will reflect and refract the surrounding visuals for a more fluid user interface. Ahead of its stable release, WhatsApp have already started rolling out the new feature to its beta testers, for iPhone devices, and it is already testing support for this design in its beta app.
Liquid Glass in WhatsApp Beta
According to the WABetaInfo (feature tracker platform for WhatsApp), the new design was spotted in WhatsApp Beta for iOS version 25.24.10.70, which has been compiled using Apple’s iOS 26 SDK via Xcode. This will enable WhatsApp to experiment with:
- The new depth effects
- Light reflections
- Transparency across background layers, context menus and interactive buttons.
Essentially, the upcoming Liquid Glass feature for iPhones will give WhatsApp’s UI a glass-like optical effect, which will react to light, movement and user interaction, and will further offer a more immersive experience. But no concrete information has been rolled out from the tech giant yet (by the time of writing).
Gradual rollout planned
WABetaInfo further notes that the Liquid Glass update for WhatsApp will be rolled out in phases:
- Phase 1: Refreshing primary navigation components in the bottom bar.
- Phase 2: Polishing interactive elements and buttons, ensuring transparency does not affect legibility.
- Final Release: Once stability is ensured, the complete Liquid Glass design will be shipped with a future WhatsApp update, likely timed with the public rollout of iOS 26.
Currently, the design is still under development and is not available to beta testers, even for those enrolled in Apple’s TestFlight programme.
Apple’s developer support
With iOS 26, Apple has also updated SwiftUI, UIKit, and AppKit APIs, making it easier for developers to adopt Liquid Glass in their apps. This signals that more iOS apps will soon get a fresh visual experience, aligning with Apple’s next-gen design shift.