Norbert Heger

@noheger@wien.rocks
87 Followers
129 Following
294 Posts
Norbert Heger6d ago
Sindre Sorhus6d ago

Menu item icons in macOS 26 reduce usability – should be optional

Please copy-paste the report as a new report in Feedback Assistant if you agree.

https://github.com/feedback-assistant/reports/issues/685

FB18692873: Menu item icons in macOS 26 reduce usability – should be optional · Issue #685 · feedback-assistant/reports

Submission Date 2025-07-08 Status Open Area Menu Bar Operating System Version macOS 26 Type Incorrect/Unexpected Behavior Description macOS 26 introduces icons for all menu items. This change adds ...

GitHub
Norbert HegerJul 3
LouieJul 3

I’ve got better things to do than write about Liquid Glass (again), and yet, here I am.

🔗 https://lmnt.me/blog/ive-got-better-things-to-do-than-this-and-yet.html

I’ve Got Better Things To Do Than This, and Yet

Norbert HegerJun 19
Gibberish and StuffJun 18
Technotes https://zhenyi.gibber.blog/technotes
Technotes - Gibberish and Stuff

A few months ago, I posted this image on Mastodon, because the Apple documentation website sometimes feel… err, underwhelming. Many people have already pointed this out, so I won't repeat their...

Norbert HegerJun 17
Alexander KäßnerJun 17

After a week seeing the new #LiquidGlass now, what is your stance on the new designs?

Boosts for reach appreciated ✌️

Love it as it is
5.7%
Like it, if they tweak contrasts
47.2%
Don’t like it
37.7%
Don’t care about it
9.4%
Poll ended at .
Norbert HegerJun 16
Max Maass Jun 15

Saw this on my kitchen counter today and thought „hmm, ‚Solid Porcelain‘ might be a cool design language, actually.“

Can do the same 3d effects, nice highlights / reflections, and easier to read on than the transparency of #LiquidGlass. Plus, stuff sticking out of the icon is always fun. #iOS #MacOS #WWDC25

Norbert HegerJun 16
Kuba Suder 🇵🇱🇺🇦Jun 14
Omg yes this, ffs 😩 via @mindaugasrudokas.com #wwdc25
Norbert HegerJun 15
Tuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 15

Mockup time! What could be a reasonable "middle ground" between the Mac OS design that we have today and the radical Liquid Glass design we saw this week from #WWDC25?

Disclaimer: this does not attempt to solve all the issues of modern Mac OS design, such as cramped toolbars caused by full-height sidebars and combining the toolbar with the title bar. I feel like the Apple of today is too far gone to do anything about those.

Read on to see what I actually tried to address.

Norbert HegerJun 12
They needed a study to find that out?
https://orf.at/stories/3396532/
Norbert HegerJun 12
MΛTTJun 12
Something cool about _the new way_, is Apple are kind enough to include their SVGs in asset catalogs. You can reassemble icons in Icon Composer and re-colour them. *fixed*.
Norbert HegerJun 10
Steve Troughton-SmithJun 10
Liquid Glass feels like that earliest reveal of Aqua — flashy, and completely over the top and needing twelve months of refinement and public feedback to get the balance quite right. The problem is, Apple's yearly schedule doesn't allow for that kind of iteration before release; we have about a week or two to get our feedback in, but this plane's going to land in September regardless
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Tuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 15

Mockup time! What could be a reasonable "middle ground" between the Mac OS design that we have today and the radical Liquid Glass design we saw this week from #WWDC25?

Disclaimer: this does not attempt to solve all the issues of modern Mac OS design, such as cramped toolbars caused by full-height sidebars and combining the toolbar with the title bar. I feel like the Apple of today is too far gone to do anything about those.

Read on to see what I actually tried to address.

Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 15

Several people have said having the sidebar float over the window feels weird, and I agree. Here I effectively reversed the visual hierarchy: the sidebar extends from "underneath" the window like a drawer. We gain back the pixels from the left of the sidebar and we don't have to figure out how to extend the content behind the sidebar.

Conceptually, in most cases, the sidebar is not the most important part of your window, it's there to show/change the context of what's happening on the right.

Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 15

The next obvious thing is what's happening in the toolbar. I think the progressive blur from Liquid Glass is cool, but for legibility and clear separation of UI vs. content, I went for the "classic" look. The toolbar is also more compact, so we can actually benefit from the space savings afforded by the combined titlebar.

And of course, the humongous drop shadows have been pulled back, now just serving to highlight the capsules. The spacing of the capsules and icons in them were also adjusted.

Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 15

Overall, I just tried to bring back a bit of definition in places where it was lacking, such as the icon size slider thumb at the bottom right, which was almost impossible to see, even on the super crisp and nice MacBook Pro display.

I'm meh on the huge rounded corners on windows. It's the style of today so I kept them, but the smaller toolbar let me shrink them a bit. The size of the "traffic lights" also matches present Mac OS. Not all things in the Mac UI should grow in perpetuity.

Show threadJeff C. 🇺🇦Jun 15

@tuomas_h @marioguzman This looks a LOT better.

I still don’t like the corner radius being so comically large, but I guess you have to pick your battles.

Show threadSteven WoolgarJun 15
@jeff @tuomas_h @marioguzman especially when my screens do NOT have rounded corners. This “match the physical device” stuff is bunk for macOS.
Show threadColin CornabyJun 15
@woolie @jeff @tuomas_h @marioguzman When the screens don't have rounded corners *yet*
Show threadSteven WoolgarJun 16
@colincornaby @jeff @tuomas_h @marioguzman 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣
Show threadNitJun 17
@colincornaby @woolie @jeff @tuomas_h @marioguzman really looks out of place with CarPlay where many screens will always be squared off.
Show threadJocelynephiliac Jun 17
@tuomas_h this is a significant improvement
Show threadJon SterlingJun 15
@tuomas_h this is a huge improvement.
Show threadSt. ChrisJun 15
@tuomas_h @siracusa It feels so good here to have an unambiguously bounded area that clearly defines the content and its inherent whitespace, instead of a wider one where the translucent floating sidebar implies that the content actually has a big left margin. If the chrome (or glass) wants to get out of the way of the content, it needs to respect the content’s designed bounds.
Show threadSt. ChrisJun 15
@siracusa This directly connects to your distaste for floating bottom-row controls. Hard agree.
Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 16
@FormerlyStC @siracusa Figma, in their recent-ish redesign, introduced similar floating sidebars to big fanfare, but reversed course very soon – turns out designers actually hated them.
Show threadElan FeingoldJun 16
@tuomas_h much better!
Show threadPaul-Vincent Roll (he/him)Jun 15
@tuomas_h soooooo much nicer 😭
Show threadEmory Dunn Jun 15
@tuomas_h Looks great, and now I want an actual drawer at the bottom of the window with this style
Show threadClaude ZeinsJun 15
@tuomas_h 👏👏👏
Show threadDanielJun 15
@tuomas_h This is infinitely better! 👏
Show threadJoe Rosensteel 🏳️‍🌈Jun 15
@tuomas_h I like how it’s gone full circle to left side drawers. Haha. I still don’t love the stoplights being attached to the tab bar. I wish we could just have a solid title bar again where you could predictably drag the window, but there’s no way to do that with their stated design and material goals.
Show threadKris Dreemurr (they/them) of the Pnictogen WingJun 15
@tuomas_h MacOS hasn't been reasonable for about 25 years now ~Chara
Show threadErnesto Acosta 🫟Jun 15
@tuomas_h I'd make you Vice President of Human Interfaces at Apple today.
Show threadMatthias HühneJun 15
@tuomas_h Please send this design as feedback to Apple. I love it.
Show threadGreg KaplanJun 15

@tuomas_h it’s not like visionOS at all. In visionOS the app chrome takes on the colors of the background “environment”, much like how current Mac side panels take on the desktop colors. Instead they inset everything and it takes color from the content. visionOS also has totally detached side panels while bottom toolbars float partially over content they modify.

I think a lot of the changes derive from iPad’s hybrid tab bar/side panel. I get why Apple wants to keep the two on the same plane.

Show threadMatt GoddenJun 15
@tuomas_h Would still go back to Snow Leopard in a heartbeat.
Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 15
@metaning You and me both.
Show threadMatt GoddenJun 15
@tuomas_h The more I use modern macOS - I went from High Sierra to Ventura, I miss proper narrow title bars, with the full-width button bar as a separate thing below (and tear-off inspectors). Everything in the new style feels clumsy, like trying to run waist deep in water. Whatever vertical space is “gained” by combining the title and tool bar, is lost with the huge padding on the dock, etc.
Show threadzıəs uɐɟəʇs ✪Jun 15
@tuomas_h First question from me as a "user" would be: Can i scroll?
Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 15
@seiz Yeah, this is one of those usability issues that I didn’t try to address. I also look back fondly to the beautiful Aqua scroll bars, but we’ve been living with transient scroll bars for a long time, since Mac OS X 10.7. Not ideal but not a disaster in my book.
Show threadzıəs uɐɟəʇs ✪Jun 15
@tuomas_h Oops. I compared it to my current finder Window but forgot, that i had changed the default setting to "always show scrollbars".
Show threadadacostaJun 15
@tuomas_h I like this, but I would prefer a fade effect where the content page fades into the glass sidebar. But that brings up issue of defining the separator for resizing, but maybe a small colored water drop could be that?
Show thread𝕾 Simon LouJun 15
@tuomas_h that makes total sense—I really could imagine using that.
Show threadBuckJun 15
@tuomas_h Outstanding. Much much better.
Show threaddmdJun 15
@tuomas_h Very nice work. If the new design actually looked like this, I would be happy to adopt it in my Mac app, instead of dreading it like I am now.
Show threadNorbert HegerJun 15
@tuomas_h This looks sooooo much better!
Show threadGKJun 15
@tuomas_h @siracusa MUCH better.
Show threadBrendan@TapForms 🇨🇦Jun 15
@tuomas_h this is really nice. The toolbar buttons look like they're part of the window instead of floating a foot above like in os26. And I love the sidebar.
Show threadPatrick HillsJun 15
@tuomas_h ah… some sanity. I feel much calmer looking at this.
Show threadDerek MartinJun 15
@tuomas_h I wish the entire left sidebar was a single section so I could mix and rearrange the icons exactly as I see fit. I don’t want it separated into Favourites and Locations. That’s not how I think about things.
Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 16
@lo_fye Yeah I loved this aspect in Panther & Tiger, also that the icons grew and shrunk as space allowed. I think in the recent Mac OS versions they’ve made it a bit more flexible what can be in which category but it’s not freeform. What I do appreciate about the current design is that I know where things like removable storage or servers will appear when I connect them, but I don’t think it was ever a problem before the categories.
Show threadLeonJun 16
@tuomas_h this looks way better. I’d love to see the toolbars also demoted in the z hierarchy
Show threadAmy WorrallJun 16
@tuomas_h I absolutely love the sidebar-under-the-window concept. I wonder about implementing it as an open source package, and trying to promote adoption amongst indie apps!
Show threadPasi SaleniusJun 16

@tuomas_h This looks really good. I particularly appreciate that you left out all progressive blur. Please get hired by Apple 🙏

You kept all the good parts, button borders, clearer structure and actual concentricity ✅

Show threadGavin AndereggJun 16
@tuomas_h @joesteel Vast improvement! Great work!
Show threadFlo GehringJun 16

@tuomas_h considering hierarchy I’d argue that the top bar needs to cover the whole top so the traffic lights are on there too.

Otherwise it’s great. Love the „traditional“ sidebar.

Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 16
@flogehring Yeah I love me some full-length toolbar, but as I said in the post, I think Apple have pretty much moved on from that 🥲
Show threadJohn AppleseedJun 17
@flogehring @tuomas_h Agreed! Team Full Width Toolbar! Down with full height sidebars
Show threadJohn AppleseedJun 17
@flogehring @tuomas_h With the floating inset sidebars, theoretically we could just…shrink em down vertically, right? My rapid fire photoshop for reference
Show threadBetamagicJun 16
@tuomas_h This is endlessly better, especially the sidebar.
Show threadAxel Le PennecJun 16
@tuomas_h agree! I might be one of the "several people": https://iosdev.space/@alpennec/114669269359905656
Axel Le Pennec (@alpennec@iosdev.space)

Attached: 4 images Hot take: Sidebars in #macOS Tahoe look off. Why do they float above the app? They are visually heavy: too much shadow, glass, corner radius, padding — they steal focus and distract (unless you're Apple Maps). Inspectors feel way cleaner (see Icon Composer attached). (Apple Maps and Apple Podcasts screenshots are from @stroughtonsmith@mastodon.social) #WWDC25

iOS Dev Space
Show threadCameron BoschJun 16

@tuomas_h Honestly, if Steve Jobs saw the Apple of today and what macOS Big Sur and onward looked like, he would fire nearly every person in charge of that team.

Like, the icons looked like crap, the padding was enormous, and the settings app in Ventura looks like an iOS app ported badly from the iPad or iPhone.

Show threadChase CarrollJun 17

@tuomas_h I'd be curious to hear how you think iPad fits (or doesn't fit!) into the design thinking here.

The new sidebars seem to stem the desire for consistent treatment across macOS and iPadOS (where the constrained width of the display makes floating sidebars feel more natural as the sidebar collapses and expands over the content). Do you think that's a worthwhile goal here?

Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 17
@cdoncarroll That’s a very good question. I don’t immediately see why this couldn’t work for iPad too, especially in the “sidebar open” mode. You’re right in the sense that the floating sidebar feels more at home on iPad because it can transition into a tab bar, but I think the fact that pixels are “lost” around the sidebar hurts even more on such a small display. I’m sure there is some kind of a solution for the tab bar that makes it feel like a natural counterpart for the “drawer” sidebar.
Show threadChase CarrollJun 17
@tuomas_h I definitely don't disagree with your second point. I felt a very similar discomfort when Figma introduced floating panels.
Show threadChase CarrollJun 17

@tuomas_h In this case however, I think crucial point to consider is what happens to the window as the sidebar moves about. The visual of your mock leads me to think that sidebar expansion would modify the size of the content window itself (even if the resulting container window footprint isn't any different).

I wonder if 's goal is for the container window size feel like it remains constant.

Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 17
@cdoncarroll Yeah true, if the sidebar really is just a transient overlay, then the floating design makes a ton of sense. I don’t spend that much time on iPad so I forgot this case exists 😅
Show threadChrisJun 17
@tuomas_h WeHaveToGoBack.gif
Show threadJeremy KanterJun 18
@tuomas_h 👏
Show threadWenzel 👨‍💻Jun 18
@tuomas_h that's a lot better already. Maybe making the entire toolbar Liquid Glass and the buttons colored areas? Like they suggest with the no glass on glass rule?
Show threadTuomas Hämäläinen 🇺🇦Jun 18
@stairjoke This style actually adheres to their guidelines. In one of the sessions they show how the Finder looks like with a list view and they basically do exactly this, because the progressive blur won’t work work with list headers.