Some design details are so small that they can easily go unnoticed until someone points them out. Then, the worst happens: you can’t stop looking at them now. The new Safari icon Apple launched in iOS 27 beta 5 has this problem. The company has tweaked several icons to better take advantage of the new Liquid Glass layer, which strives for greater depth, reflections and clarity. Safari’s compass icon has also become more refined, and at first glance, I even think it’s prettier than previous versions. The problem lies in the center. Apple added a small glass shaft-like component that seems to defeat the logic of the compass.
The controversy started when several users pointed out something very strange: The problem wasn’t that the compass had a center pin. Because a real compass obviously has a pointer. The problem is how Apple draws the two halves of the pointer around the axis. In a traditional compass, the red and white areas form a single rigid pointer that can rotate as a unit. However, in the new version of Safari, they appear visually separate due to layers and overlapping. Two separate needles are attached to the same pivot. Almost like the hands of a clock. It’s just a small detail, but the more you look at it, the weirder it gets. Criticism spread quickly, and some designers even proposed alternatives that retained the glass effect but restored the continuous hands. The ultimate irony is that Apple explicitly recommends that the new “Liquid Glass” icon use simple, balanced, and visually harmonious layers.
I also don’t think it means Apple’s designers “never saw a compass,” as someone joked on social media. More likely… this is due to an overemphasis on the three-dimensional effect and neglect of the logic of the represented object. But Apple has spent decades building its reputation on details that others overlook. That’s why a small problem with a few pixels can cause such a big stir. Moreover, iOS 27 is still in the beta stage, and Apple will continue to adjust the icons before it is officially released. So there’s still time to fix this. I guess you’ll never look at that compass the same way again.
