How Vivo's 'OriginOS 6' Introduces A Liquid Glass-Like Android Interface That Surpasses Apple

Lovers will love it. Haters will hate it even more.

When Apple introduced Liquid Glass design through the release of iOS 26, one thing was certain: it wouldn't take long until someone will copy it. In the tech world, where intellectual property is just something that others can and inevitably will copy, refine, and repackage as their own, it doesn't take long before anyone can see how deeply Vivo has looked over Apple's shoulders with its 'OriginOS 6.'

From the translucent sheets to hovering docks and icon shapes, every single element feels like a careful echo of iOS 26’s Liquid Glass aesthetic.

In the operating system from Vivo, the design whisper becomes a roar: glassy panels, soft shadows, and drifting wallpapers deliver the illusion of a flexible, fluid interface.

After all, copying and pasting others' feature is somehow a rhythm of modern tech: one company invents, another imitates, and the rest iterate until the original spark becomes an industry standard.

In teasers released ahead of its October launch, Vivo explicitly leans into this visual mimicry.

• Translucent panels and frosted overlays: OriginOS 6 adopts the same semi-transparent blur effect seen throughout iOS 26, applied to notifications, widgets, and menus for that signature glassy depth.
• Rounded app icons and buttons: Vivo’s redesigned icons echo Apple’s soft-corner aesthetic, replicating the smooth, polished shapes that have become a hallmark of iOS design.
• Floating dock and layered depth: Like iOS 26, OriginOS 6 features a hovering dock and stacked interface layers that cast subtle shadows, creating a refined illusion of glass and dimension.
• Dynamic wallpapers with light refraction: Both systems introduce animated wallpapers that react to ambient light and motion, adding a sense of visual depth and fluid movement to the display.
• Unified Control Center layout: Vivo’s reimagined quick toggles and sliders strongly resemble Apple’s Control Center, mirroring its spacing, translucency, and soft gradient effects.
• Lock screen and customization: OriginOS 6’s lock screen looks nearly identical to iOS 26, right down to its customizable clock styles and widget placements — a near one-to-one visual recreation.

In other words, pretty much everything in OriginOS 6 behave like their iOS counterparts.

That said, Vivo isn’t hiding the inspiration.

Calling it water instead of glass, its own marketing talks of "flow," seamless transitions, and visual water metaphors built into interactions.

Yet adopting a design language is one thing. Elevating it is another.

This is because Vivo went a step further than iOS 26.

With OriginOS 6, Vivo doesn’t just copy. For example, in some places, the design tries to expand. Then, Vivo also bundles AI enhancements like Live Photo AI Removal (so moving subjects can be erased frame by frame) and a refreshed animation engine that smooths transitions aggressively.

Still, the shadow of imitation looms. Critics have openly called OriginOS 6 an “iOS 26 ripoff,” noting how features like rounded corners, translucency, and the Liquid Glass dock seem lifted wholesale.

Some defend such borrowing as part of normal evolution in UI design; others see it as risky when identity is weakened.

The question now: can OriginOS 6 transcend its inspirations?

If Vivo pairs the visual flair with deep functional optimizations, like battery savings, smarter widgets, genuinely adaptive layouts, then what begins as imitation could evolve into meaningful differentiation. But if it remains surface-deep, then design critics will say Vivo borrowed style without soul.

For users in markets where Vivo is strong. In China, India and parts of Asia, Vivo with OriginOS 6 is giving many people in those parts of the world a slice of iOS experience in the Android world.

But elsewhere, it might only stoke debate: is this androiding of Apple, or an artistic remix? Either way, OriginOS 6 is about more than another theme. It shows how powerful Apple’s aesthetic influence has become, and how quickly the rest of the smartphone world races to mirror that shine.

It's worth noting that Apple Liquid Glass has mixed reviews, and many call it useless, obstructing, accessibility nightmare and more. Vivo on the other hand, wins in this copycat strategy because it doesn't care much about these problems because after all, it just copies what Liquid Glass is like.

If anyone bothers to blame Vivo for the issues, they may as well blame Apple. After all, Vivo only inherits the flaws, not created them.