Apple bets on the main liquid glass design with iOS 26, but it may be only one of the very notable changes in the new software. With the last iOS 26 Beta 6, which was published earlier this week, the company has made a significant change to certain animations likely to make users of older iPhone models very happy. For the first time in years, Apple has changed the launching animations for the Springboard application and made them faster. The jet lag is only about 150 milliseconds, according to At 9to5mac, which is not so significant, but it is not the main change in animations.
On iOS 26 Beta 6, the applications are launching faster and with a Wrap effect, which is similar to the way Windows minimize the quay on MacOS. Part of the change is that applications jump from their icons much faster than before, which adds to the feeling of speed. Contrary to iOS 18, where the animation is more progressive, on iOS 26Applications extend to 90% of the screen in the time you need the old software to fill about half of the screen.
| iOS 26 dB5 (old) | iOS 26 dB6 (new) |
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Providing a faster feeling of software is an intelligent decision for Apple. The redesign of liquid glass is already a controversial subject, so it is likely that many negative opinions will emerge once it will reach more iPhone users. If Apple makes people feel that their phones have become faster, they will be happier, even if they are not delighted with the new design.
Like many other things that Apple does, it’s not exactly unique. Most Android launchers already have faster animations, which are particularly beautiful on high cooling rate screens.
As the owner of an older iPhone, I am very excited by Apple’s approach with iOS 26. It will not be the first time that my device feels faster after a major update of the operating system, and I have always been satisfied with it. Even if it is only a trick, I will gladly appreciate perception and I could even postpone the purchase of a new phone a little longer.
