Recreating Liquid Glass Effects with SVG’s feDisplacementMap: Challenges and Limitations Across Browsers
In the world of Web Design, creating dynamic, eye-catching visual effects such as liquid glass is often achieved through a combination of advanced CSS and SVG filter techniques. Recently, developers have explored implementing these effects using SVG’s <feDisplacementMap>, which produces compelling distortions and fluid visuals similar to those seen in modern graphics and animations.
Exploring SVG-based Liquid Glass Effects
Two notable implementations showcase how SVG filters can mimic liquid glass effects:
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A base64-encoded PNG map solution, which utilizes an image as a displacement map to manipulate the rendering of elements in real time.
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A more sophisticated pure filter approach, leveraging SVG’s filter primitives for a seamless visual experience.
These methods are appreciated for their cleverness and relative ease of understanding, making them accessible alternatives to more complex techniques like WebGL-based shaders.
Examples:
While these solutions work beautifully in desktop browsers, they encounter significant limitations on specific platforms, notably Safari and iOS Safari.
The Cross-Browser Challenge
The primary stumbling block stems from a long-standing WebKit bug, dating back over a decade (2014), which impairs the functionality of SVG filters on Safari. The bug relates to how WebKit handles certain filter primitives, particularly <feDisplacementMap>, which causes the effect to either not render properly or not at all.
Referencing WebKit’s official bug tracker:
Furthermore, community-driven discussions on Can I Use highlight Safari’s inconsistent support for advanced CSS and SVG filters:
This issue results in a fragmented experience: while Chrome and Chromium-based browsers support these SVG effects seamlessly, Safari, including iOS Safari, falls short. Such limitations hinder developers from creating universally consistent visual effects, prompting the question of whether this is an intentional restriction or an overlooked oversight.
Implications for Web Developers
The inability to reliably implement sophisticated visual effects across all browsers—especially in Safari—places a
