With iOS 26, MacOS 26, TVOS 26 and Watchos 26, Apple plans to start a new design described as inspired by Visionos, the most recent operating system. With the WWDC to come soon, we thought that we will take a closer look at Visionos and certain design details that Apple could adopt on the basis of current rumors and disclosed information.
1. Translucidity
Inside Apple, the Redesign project ios 26 is known as “Solarium”, which gives us an overview of Apple’s orientation. A solarium is essentially a room entirely in glass designed to let in a lot of light.
Since the launch, Visionos has had menus and interface elements that are translucent because in an AR / VR environment, people must be able to see their environment as much as possible to feel immersed.
The translucent design elements of visionos mix better in the background for a discreet look, leaving the color and the light of the real world mix. It is not difficult to imagine how this type of translucent design would work well in applications like photos, of which we have already seen a model.
2. Floating bars and navigation menus
The floating menus and the navigation bars go right with transluid. In Visionos, everything mainly floats in space open around you, whether you look at your environment through the Pastethrough camera or a virtual reality.
In ios 26, Apple could reproduce this effect with shade and observation which make the interface elements are slightly raised on the content in the background, for a soft and blurred depth effect.
Visionos has a lot of most aligned toolbars rather than lower bars, it is therefore possible that we will see iOS evolve in this way too.
3. Rounded buttons and interface elements
IOS already has rounded squares and rounded rectangles for icons, notifications, menus in applications, search bars and all the card style interfaces to which we are used to, but Visionos is even more round. The floating navigation bars in iOS could be in the shape of a pill with more suddenly rounded edges.
Visionos also has a more dramatic rounding in the corners, and the icons of the application are completely round. Ios 26 could be more round in general, corresponding more closely to some of the forms of visionos. The Jon Prosser leak said there will be an option for round application icons, but it is not clear if Apple wanted to go in this direction for iOS because Android has long used round application icons. The emblematic squirt was one of the many design features distinguishing iOS from Android.
4. Vitrous look
With its translucidity, the Visionos interface can almost look like a frosted glass. Apple’s WWDC 2025 design includes an rainbow in frosted glass with changing pastel colors, which is perhaps a plans index to adopt a frosty sea style look that is not too far from what we already have in Visionos.
Visionos actually uses a material designed by the system that Apple calls glass for application windows. It allows you to present yourself to the menus and with windows. Glass adapts to the background color and provides a contrast for the content of applications while taking into account the physical environment of people. Apple could use a similar material design in ios 26.
5. Subtile lighting modifications
In Visionos, translucent interface elements can interact with the lighting conditions of the room in which the user is located. This is not translated into the iPhone, but iOS will apparently have subtle light effects that will focus on translucidity and glass design.
In Visionos, the windows also launch shadows that meet the movements of the head. It is not something that results in iOS, but the lighting and the effects of the shadow that change when you move your iphone is a possibility. In fact, Prosser claims that there is a glow on the pocket lamp buttons and the camera (or personalized) of the lock screen when moving the iphone.
Apple could use dynamic observation in applications and widgets, and adaptive color could deepen the effect by allowing interface elements to mix with wallpaper and move with ambient light.
6. Simplicity
For the most part, Visionos has a simplified design in Apple applications, with a more aerial sensation due to the spacing that is necessary to ensure that people have enough room to watch a button to interact with it. Ios 26 could adopt rationalized navigation and menu elements for a less congested look.
Visionos uses cleaner fonts, more daring text and an increased line height, which may or may not result in iOS.
Apple probably examines navigation, menu options and layout, because one of the main aspects of the redesign is a more multiplatform cohesion, according to Bloombergis Mark Gurman. He says that ios 26 will be “easier to use, faster to navigate and easier to learn”.
Design consistency
It is not only ios 26 which is revised. The visual changes and the adjustments of menus, buttons and navigation will also extend to macos 26, and of course, iPados 26. Watchos 26 and TVOS 26 will also see design refreshments.
Apple will undoubtedly provide developers with new guidelines and design resources to extend the updated look to third -party applications.
Start of WWDC
The new design that we have heard so much should be revealed during the Keynote WWDC event on Monday, June 9. It starts at 10:00 am and although Apple the broadcast live, if you cannot watch, you can follow here on MacRumors.com or on our MacRumorslive X account. Apple will provide developers with new updates to the operating system with redesign after the opening event, and a public beta version will follow in July. Ios 26 and its sisters will be launched to the public in September.
