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Icon Composer 2 and SF Symbols 8 now available as betas
Apple's new beta design tools introduce Liquid Glass effects and expanded preview capabilities to streamline cross-platform icon development.
What: Apple released betas for Icon Composer 2 and SF Symbols 8. Icon Composer 2 adds 'Refraction' tools and extended previews, while SF Symbols 8 increases the library to 7,000+ icons with new animation and rendering support.
Why it matters: These tools indicate Apple is standardizing high-fidelity aesthetic effects like 'Liquid Glass' across its ecosystem, forcing designers to adopt these specific rendering patterns to keep app icons compliant with platform standards.
Decoder
- SF Symbols: A comprehensive library of vector icons provided by Apple, integrated into iOS, macOS, and other platforms to ensure consistent UI iconography.
- Liquid Glass: A design aesthetic introduced by Apple characterized by depth, realistic refraction, and transparency effects.
Original article
Apple has released beta versions of SF Symbols 8 and Icon Composer 2 for developers and designers following WWDC26. SF Symbols 8 adds new symbols across Apple's latest operating systems, bringing the total library to more than 7,000 symbols with support for animations, effects, and variable rendering. Icon Composer 2 introduces Liquid Glass design tools such as Refraction for realistic light distortion, improved specular highlights for better layer definition, and an Extended Preview mode that lets designers see how app icons will appear on both current and previous operating systems.
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