Comparison

Theseus vs LiquidGlass

LiquidGlass puts a glass background behind your views. Theseus gives you the finished controls.

Our appTheseus is the one we make. Pick it if you want a Liquid Glass tab bar, slider and switch on iOS 13 and later, with the tint setting iOS 27 gives users.

Open source on GitHub

Theseus in a UIKit app

Facts checked on 11 November 2026.

The short answer

Theseus gives you finished controls, a tab bar, a slider and a switch, on top of its glass view, from iOS 13. LiquidGlass is a glass background effect for your own SwiftUI and UIKit views, from iOS 14.

Pick Theseus if

You want a tab bar, a slider and a switch ready to drop in.
You want the knob and capsule animations of the system controls.
You support iOS 13, or devices without Metal.

Side by side

	Theseus	LiquidGlass
Built for	developers who support iOS versions that came before Liquid Glass	developers who want a glass background behind their own views
Where it runs	on iOS 13 and later, with Swift 5.9 and later	on iOS 14 and later, on devices with Metal
Built on	UIKit, with SwiftUI wrappers in the repository	SwiftUI and UIKit
What it includes	a tab bar, a slider, a switch and the glass view they are built on	a glass background modifier and view, with three update modes
How you pay	free and open source under Apache 2.0	free and open source under the MIT licence

What Theseus is

Theseus is an open source Swift package that brings the iOS 27 Liquid Glass look to iOS 13 and later. It draws blur, refraction, glare and spring animations with Metal, and includes a tab bar, a slider and a switch.

What LiquidGlass is

LiquidGlass is a Swift library by BarredEwe that draws a frosted glass effect with blur and refraction using Metal shaders, for SwiftUI and UIKit. It captures the views behind an element and adds the effect with one modifier.

Questions

Is Theseus a good alternative to LiquidGlass?

Yes, if you want a Liquid Glass tab bar, slider and switch on iOS 13 and later, with the tint setting iOS 27 gives users. Theseus gives you finished controls, a tab bar, a slider and a switch, on top of its glass view, from iOS 13. LiquidGlass is a glass background effect for your own SwiftUI and UIKit views, from iOS 14.

What is the difference between Theseus and LiquidGlass?

Theseus is built for developers who support iOS versions that came before Liquid Glass. LiquidGlass is built for developers who want a glass background behind their own views.

How is Theseus sold compared with LiquidGlass?

Theseus: free and open source under Apache 2.0. LiquidGlass: free and open source under the MIT licence.

More comparisons

We make Theseus. What we say about LiquidGlass comes from its own pages, read on 11 November 2026: LiquidGlass's README on GitHub. Spotted a mistake? Write to support@onedevshop.com. LiquidGlass belongs to its owner, and Theseus is not affiliated with it.

Theseus

Same ship, rebuilt plank by plank

Free and open source under Apache 2.0. Bronze in the Telegram Developer Contest, 2026.

Open source on GitHub