Expo Glass Effect

Expo Glass Effect

Guide for using expo-glass-effect to create iOS native liquid glass UI effects.

Overview

• Platform: iOS 26+ only (falls back to regular View on unsupported platforms)
• Native API: Uses UIVisualEffectView under the hood
• Package: expo-glass-effect

Installation

npx expo install expo-glass-effect

Core Components

GlassView

Primary component for rendering glass effect surfaces.

import { GlassView } from 'expo-glass-effect';

<GlassView
  style={styles.glass}
  glassEffectStyle="regular"  // 'regular' | 'clear'
  isInteractive={false}       // Enable interactive glass effect
  tintColor="#ffffff"         // Optional tint overlay
/>

Props:

• glassEffectStyle: 'regular' (default) or 'clear'
• isInteractive: Boolean for interactive behavior (default: false)
• tintColor: Optional color string for tinting the glass
• All standard View props (style, children, etc.)

GlassContainer

Wrapper for combining multiple glass views with merged effects.

import { GlassContainer, GlassView } from 'expo-glass-effect';

<GlassContainer spacing={10} style={styles.container}>
  <GlassView style={styles.glass1} isInteractive />
  <GlassView style={styles.glass2} />
  <GlassView style={styles.glass3} />
</GlassContainer>

Props:

• spacing: Distance (number) at which glass elements start merging effects
• All standard View props

Utility Functions

isLiquidGlassAvailable()

Check if glass components are available (validates system version, compiler version, Info.plist settings).

import { isLiquidGlassAvailable } from 'expo-glass-effect';

if (isLiquidGlassAvailable()) {
  // Render GlassView
} else {
  // Render fallback UI
}

Note: This checks component availability, not user accessibility settings. Use AccessibilityInfo.isReduceTransparencyEnabled() to check if user disabled transparency.

isGlassEffectAPIAvailable()

Runtime check for Glass Effect API availability on device (important for iOS 26 beta compatibility).

import { isGlassEffectAPIAvailable } from 'expo-glass-effect';

if (isGlassEffectAPIAvailable()) {
  // Safe to use GlassView
}

Common Patterns

Basic Glass Card

import { StyleSheet, View, Image, Text } from 'react-native';
import { GlassView } from 'expo-glass-effect';

export default function GlassCard() {
  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <Image
        style={styles.background}
        source={{ uri: 'https://example.com/image.jpg' }}
      />
      <GlassView style={styles.card}>
        <Text style={styles.text}>Glass Effect Card</Text>
      </GlassView>
    </View>
  );
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
  },
  background: {
    ...StyleSheet.absoluteFill,
  },
  card: {
    position: 'absolute',
    top: 100,
    left: 50,
    width: 200,
    height: 100,
    borderRadius: 12,
    padding: 20,
  },
});

Merged Glass Elements

import { GlassContainer, GlassView } from 'expo-glass-effect';

<GlassContainer spacing={10} style={styles.row}>
  <GlassView style={styles.circle1} isInteractive />
  <GlassView style={styles.circle2} />
  <GlassView style={styles.circle3} />
</GlassContainer>

Conditional Rendering with Fallback

import { isLiquidGlassAvailable, GlassView } from 'expo-glass-effect';
import { View } from 'react-native';

function Card({ children, style }) {
  const GlassComponent = isLiquidGlassAvailable() ? GlassView : View;

  return (
    <GlassComponent style={[styles.card, style]}>
      {children}
    </GlassComponent>
  );
}

Known Issues & Limitations

1. isInteractive Cannot Change Dynamically

// ❌ BAD - Won't work after initial render
const [interactive, setInteractive] = useState(false);
<GlassView isInteractive={interactive} />

// ✅ GOOD - Remount with different key
const [interactive, setInteractive] = useState(false);
<GlassView key={interactive ? 'interactive' : 'static'} isInteractive={interactive} />

2. Opacity Issues

Avoid opacity < 1 on GlassView or parent views - causes rendering issues.

// ❌ BAD
<View style={{ opacity: 0.8 }}>
  <GlassView />
</View>

// ✅ GOOD - Use tintColor instead
<GlassView tintColor="rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8)" />

3. Platform Support

Always wrap in platform checks or use fallback components for cross-platform apps:

import { Platform } from 'react-native';
import { isLiquidGlassAvailable, GlassView } from 'expo-glass-effect';

const useGlass = Platform.OS === 'ios' && isLiquidGlassAvailable();

Styling Best Practices

1. Always use position: 'absolute' for layering over background content
2. Use borderRadius to create rounded glass surfaces
3. Layer backgrounds using StyleSheet.absoluteFill for full coverage
4. Avoid shadows - glass effect provides natural depth
5. Use padding for content spacing within glass views

Accessibility

Check user preference for reduced transparency:

import { AccessibilityInfo } from 'react-native';
import { isLiquidGlassAvailable, GlassView } from 'expo-glass-effect';

const [reduceTransparency, setReduceTransparency] = useState(false);

useEffect(() => {
  AccessibilityInfo.isReduceTransparencyEnabled().then(setReduceTransparency);
}, []);

const shouldUseGlass = isLiquidGlassAvailable() && !reduceTransparency;

References

• Expo Glass Effect Docs
• Apple UIVisualEffectView
• GitHub Issue #41024 - Opacity rendering bug
• GitHub Issue #40911 - iOS 26 beta API availability