Glassmorphism: The UI Trend You Have Seen Everywhere

In this episode of Interface Insights, produced by Design Studio UI UX, our host Naushina will break down Glassmorphism UI in its entirety. 

Glassmorphism is the frosted, semi-transparent panel you keep seeing everywhere, in your apps, OS, and dashboard. 

She will discuss the working principle behind Glassmorphism, the readability and performance concerns that come with it, how Apple bypassed that, practical rules for applying the technique, Liquid Glass, and emerging trends like spatial computing and AR.

 
Whether you're a designer deciding on whether to use it, or just someone curious, read the full blog here: Glassmorphism UI Trend. 

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Transcript

Naushina 0:00

You have seen it, that soft, frosted funnel floating over a blurred, colourful background. It looks clean and modern. And right now it's on every app, every dashboard, and every OS. That's Glasmorphism. And today we are going to talk about what it actually is, how it works, and honestly, where it doesn't.

Naushina 0:22

Welcome to season 2, episode 2 of Interface Insights by Design Studio UIUX. I am Naushina, a UIUX designer and your host. So let's get into it.

Naushina 0:34

So, what is glassmorphism? It is a UI design style that makes your interface element look like frosted glass. It has semi-transparent panels, a blurred background showing through, thin borders and layered depths.

Naushina 0:49

There are four things that make it work: transparency, background blur, a subtle border, and a vibrant background behind it all. Take away any of this and the effect falls flat.

Naushina 1:01

The term was officially coined in 2020 by designer Michael Malevich, but Apple had already been doing it quietly since iOS 7 in 2013. The design community just finally gave it a name and then everyone went into it. It creates visual hierarchy without extra effort. On a crowded dashboard, a class panel naturally separates what's imported from what's background. Your eye just gets it.

Naushina 1:28

It is also great for onboarding screens. You want to highlight one action. It can be one button, one step. Glass does that with elegance. It doesn't shout, it just lifts that element forward.

Naushina 1:40

And emotionally? it reads as premium. That's why you see it in FinTech, AI tool, and anything that wants to feel modern and refined.

Naushina 1:50

Glassmorphism is easy to get wrong. First is readability. The moment you put text over a blurred transparent panel on a colorful background, you have a contrast problem. Apple literally built a reduced transparency toggle into iOS. That's not a style setting, that's an accessibility fix.

Naushina 2:10

Second is performance. Background blur is GPU heavy. On a high-end device, it's beautiful. On a budget phone, it lags. If your product is for everyone, that's a real cost.

Naushina 2:22

And third is overuse. When every single element is glassmorphic, nothing stands out. The hierarchy disappears. What was meant to lift things up just become visual noise.

Naushina 2:34

As a UIUX designer myself, I have seen this happen. A beautiful Figma file, exhausting to actually use as a product. So, how do you use it? Well, a few things we follow at Design Studio UIUX.

Naushina 2:48

Use it on a few elements like only on navigation bars, key cards, important models, and not on everything.

Naushina 2:56

Keep blur value low. Around 4 to 6 pixels is usually enough. More than that, and it gets muddy.

Naushina 3:03

Design the background intentionally. The glass panel needs something rich behind it, like a gradient, a shape, or a photo. That's what makes the effect come alive. Don't treat the background as an afterthought. And always test your contrast. Don't guess. Run it through a checker before you ship.

Naushina 3:24

Apple announced liquid glass at WWDC 2025 rolling across iOS 26, Mac OS Tahoe, and Vision Pro. This is now OS level design language. As a spatial computing grows and makes reality, glassmorphism actually makes functional sense. You need to see through the interface to interact with the world behind it. So this isn't going away, but the designers doing it well are using it with restraint.

Naushina 3:54

So that's the thing about glassmorphism. It's not a shortcut to a premium UI. It's a tool, and like any tool, it depends on how deliberately you use it. If you want to go deeper, you could find the link to our full blog on this in the description.

Naushina 4:10

Be it visuals, examples, or implementation notes. It's all there. So that's a wrap for today. If this got you thinking about your next project, that's exactly the point.

Naushina 4:22

I am Naushina signing off. I'll see you in the next episode. Till then, take care and keep designing with intention.