Snappy, not goopy

UI people open all day should be quick and quiet, not wobble for attention.

Brian Lovin@brian_lovin
Liquid Glass is still too goopy, drawing attention to itself in annoying ways (like opening menus, or the way notifications appear in iOS 27). I want the OS to be quick and snappy and let me focus on my task/content, not draw attention to wobbly morph animations.
Jul 23, 2026View on X ↗

Both demos rebuild his two examples: opening menus and arriving notifications.

1 · Opening a menu

Open each menu and pick five actions.

Wobbly morphBad
Picks0/5Watching motion0ms
Quick fade and scaleGood
Picks0/5Watching motion0ms
.menu {
  transform-origin: top right;          /* grows from its trigger */
  transition: opacity 150ms var(--ease-out), transform 150ms var(--ease-out);
}
.menu:not([data-open]) { opacity: 0; transform: scale(0.97); pointer-events: none; }
/* opened from the keyboard: no animation at all */
.menu[data-instant] { transition: none; }

2 · A notification arrives

Send a few, then keep reading the text underneath.

Jelly dropBad
700ms spring, squash and stretch
Slide and fadeGood
200ms var(--ease-out)
.toast {
  transition: opacity 200ms var(--ease-out), transform 200ms var(--ease-out);
}
@starting-style { .toast { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(-8px); } }
/* a transition, not keyframes: a new toast can interrupt it mid-way */

Why it matters, pros and cons

Why it matters

Menus and notifications show up hundreds of times a day. Motion there should explain, then get out of the way of the content.

Pros

  • Actions are ready the instant people reach for them.
  • Attention stays on the task, not on the chrome.
  • Short transitions can be interrupted without jumps.

Cons

  • First-run or rare moments can afford more personality.
  • Gesture-driven sheets still want real springs.
  • Too fast, and people miss where things came from.