[iOS 26] Replace custom tab dot with native tab badge when Liquid Glass design is enabled

[jaclync]

Part of WOOMOB-1316

Just one review is required.

Description

The custom Menu tab "dot" badge causes a crash due to the UITabBar view hierarchy changes when Liquid Glass design is enabled in iOS 26+ (more details in p91TBi-dvw-p2). This PR replaces the fragile custom tab dot implementation with native iOS tab bar badge to fix the crash while maintaining the notification UI on the Menu tab. The change is gated behind a local feature flag (liquidGlassDesign) so that tab dot UI remains available while Liquid Glass design is still disabled in production.

The native badge uses a simple dot character ("•") to replicate the tab dot as best as it can. The native tab badge design was confirmed in p91TBi-dvw-p2#comment-14429.

Steps to reproduce

Prerequisites: In Info.plist, remove UIDesignRequiresCompatibility entry like in 417ae75 to ensure Liquid Glass is enabled. Also, manually enable the tab dot in the Menu tab by replacing this line to if true:

woocommerce-ios/WooCommerce/Classes/ViewModels/MainTabViewModel.swift

Line 223 in 10ec6fc

if shouldDisplayNewFeatureBadge {

1. Launch the app --> the app should not crash, and the Menu tab dot is now replaced by a native badge with a dot
2. Test on iOS 26 and below

Testing information

I tested the following scenarios:

• With feature flag OFF + Liquid Glass disabled in iOS 26: custom tab dot should appear as before
• With feature flag ON + Liquid Glass disabled in iOS 26: native tab badge should appear
• With feature flag OFF + Liquid Glass enabled in iOS 26: crash
• With feature flag ON + Liquid Glass enabled in iOS 26: native tab badge should appear on Liquid Glass tab bar
• With feature flag ON + Liquid Glass enabled in iOS 18.4: native tab badge should appear on legacy tab bar

Screenshots

Before: Custom dot implementation

dark	light

After: Native tab badge implementation

Liquid Glass disabled - iOS 26	Liquid Glass enabled - iOS 26	Liquid Glass enabled - iOS 18.4

---

• I have considered if this change warrants user-facing release notes and have added them to RELEASE-NOTES.txt if necessary.

[wpmobilebot]

📲 You can test the changes from this Pull Request in WooCommerce iOS Prototype by scanning the QR code below to install the corresponding build.

	App Name	WooCommerce iOS Prototype
	Build Number	pr16161-d968d88
	Version	23.4
	Bundle ID	com.automattic.alpha.woocommerce
	Commit	d968d88
	Installation URL	7siu6q2ago5t0

Automatticians: You can use our internal self-serve MC tool to give yourself access to those builds if needed.

[staskus]

Thanks, it all works.

I tested with iPad Air M2 26.0 device and iOS 18.5 simulator for safety. Also tested multiple combinations with different flags/enabled disabled validating my feature flag suggestion.

[staskus]

I suggest having something a bit different logic from a normal feature flag.

Suggested change

	return buildConfig == .localDeveloper || buildConfig == .alpha
	let requiresCompatibility = Bundle.main.infoDictionary?["UIDesignRequiresCompatibility"] as? Bool ?? false
	let isIOS26OrHigher = ProcessInfo.processInfo.operatingSystemVersion.majorVersion >= 26
	return !requiresCompatibility && isIOS26OrHigher

Since we already have a flag within the Info.plist that will enable Liquid Glass, I think at that point we will want to have our changes such as this enabled as well, otherwise the app could crash in production if we keep it as buildConfig == .localDeveloper || buildConfig == .alpha.

With the updated logic, our liquid glass design changes will only be enabled if:

• UIDesignRequiresCompatibility flag doesn't exist or is set on NO
• User is on iOS 26 or higher version. We don't want our new badges to be shown to users who are on iOS 18.5 even if we enable liquid glass for iOS 26 users.

Wdyt?

[jaclync]

Thanks for the suggestion. Originally, I used a local feature flag so that it's more obvious that the code can be removed once the Liquid Glass design is launched. However, it does rely on a strict sync with the removal of the Info.plist entry, which cannot be guaranteed if some miscommunication happens. I made an update in d968d88 to replace the feature flag check with the Info.plist check as you suggested.

Regarding the iOS 26+ check, I'm leaving it out so that the native tab badge is applied to all iOS versions once the Liquid Glass design is enabled. iOS version adoption is usually pretty fast, and I don't think showing the native tab badge design causes critical UI/UX issues. We can remove the legacy fragile code sooner.

[jaclync]

Thanks for testing & review Povilas, I responded to your comment, updated the PR, and tested on iOS 26 and iOS 18.5 with and without the Info.plist entry. Please lemme know if you have any questions/concerns about the change.

[staskus]

Thanks for the updates!