In this week’s “Sunday Reboot,” Liquid Glass receives an award, Tim Cook visits China again and wants HomeKit to be more cat-friendly.
Sunday restart is a weekly column covering some of the more light-hearted stories in the Apple reality distortion space from the past seven days. All this to start next week with a good first step.
This week, Apple’s ambitions to expand its F1 coverage were rebuffed, hackers attacked supply chain partner Foxconn and AI managed to break Apple’s security in new ways.
Appreciation for liquid glass
Since its introduction, Liquid Glass has been widely criticized for not being good enough for the average user seeking perfection. It was an aesthetic that led to complaints that it was too transparent, or when it wasn’t, that it wasn’t transparent enough.
It was a change that you either loved or hated, and one that Apple tried hard to make people love.
Liquid Glass in iOS 26 – Image credit: Apple
This is partly because Apple invested so much time in the design. So much so that you can expect it to hang around in the iOS 27 and macOS 27 generation and be further improved.
Although its user base apparently underestimated Liquid Glass, it still received its share from the experts. He received a Gold Cube at the 2026 Art Director’s Club of New York Awards.
At a minimum, this means that judges who know the hard work and thought that goes into design recognize what Apple has done. Even if there is a vocal contingent that doesn’t like it.
No, that’s not the only reason Apple received a Gold Cube, as it was also honored for its Apple TV rebranding and a few commercials. But Liquid Glass getting a gong is a big thing for something everyone has been complaining about from the start.
After a year of living with it, Apple has reached a good place with the user interface. As a modern interface, it’s an aesthetic I can definitely live with, without much complaining.
When WWDC comes around in June, Apple will definitely make more changes, but it has a decent base to work from. I just hope it doesn’t get too crazy with this.
Tim Cook in China, once again
Current Apple CEO Tim Cook is enjoying his final months in the hot seat, preparing for the John Ternus era. Although he could easily take his victory lap, Cook is still the best man in the company at the moment and is therefore still called upon to do his job as CEO.
The latest is a headline we’ve heard many times before: Tim Cook has gone to China.
President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook in an earlier meeting
We all know of Apple executives visiting Asia for various reasons, and Cook has done so several times before. He visited stores, chatted with developers, and even participated in the recent anniversary celebrations.
This time it’s a little different. He went there with a group of executives from other companies, as part of a group following US President Donald Trump around the country.
Trump’s trip is about trade, a hot topic he wants to discuss with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Naturally, Trump needed to bring in a group of CEOs to underline the fact that America was serious about business.
Cook’s trip as part of a U.S.-sanctioned vacation package still benefits Apple, even if it’s actually further support for Trump’s high-level talks. He spent years building a working relationship with Trump, to Apple’s considerable benefit.
At the very least, it will be a way to appease Trump as Cook transitions from CEO to executive chairman in the fall. Cook will still be there, handling the political side of Apple on behalf of Ternus, who simply has no history with Trump.
The Trump trip wouldn’t have been very productive for Cook at the time, but it will help maintain a relationship for Apple’s future. At least while Trump is in charge.
The Cat business and the need for HomeKit to adapt
As an Apple-focused site, it won’t surprise anyone that our team uses HomeKit and Apple Home in different ways. We also know that cats rule the internet, so if there’s an excuse to talk at length and post photos of them, we’ll take it.
On Friday, the two topics were combined in an article discussing the different ways we woozad The writer uses HomeKit with his collection of fluffy mischief missiles.
However, as usual, HomeKit doesn’t play that big a role here compared to what it could do. Some items can be powered by HomeKit, like surveillance cameras and sensors for gates, but not specialized items.
In Wesley’s case, these were two product categories. One is an automatic pet feeder and the other is an automatic litter box.
Harvie, Wesley’s cat, takes care of business in Litter-Robot 5.
While I can’t speak much about the feeder, I can certainly rave about the benefits of a self-cleaning cat toilet. With my four cats, this is something that makes the air clearer and the process of ejecting used waste considerably easier, as I mentioned before.
That said, these types of products are not directly supported by HomeKit at all. There is no specific product category for cat toilets, so we are forced to rely on a complementary application.
My wish is that Apple would open up HomeKit in WWDC to allow manufacturers to specify which controls and sensors HomeKit can access on their hardware. For me, this obviously means enabling certain functions for automatic litter boxes and other devices in HomeKit.
The hope is that hardware can be added to HomeKit, whether or not there is support for particular product categories. Of course, Apple might more precisely define what is allowed to do with a litter box in HomeKit in the future, but I just want to be able to have a “Clean Now” button in HomeKit.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind the hallway light flashing red if the litter box is “full” and needs cleaning. But actually, just being able to integrate basic controls into HomeKit would be great.
Last week’s Sunday Reboot discussed Apple’s chip problems, orange marks, and “Schmigadoon!” flows wonderfully into life after Apple TV.