More playful play button

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 8.16
 -----
+- Make the Liquid Glass mini player's play button translucent with a springy bounce on tap [#4677](https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-ios/pull/4677)
 - Fix the smart playlist and podcast page header showing the system light/dark appearance instead of the in-app theme when scrolling on iOS 18 [#4662](https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-ios/pull/4662)
 - Fix episode lists jumping when a background download finishes [#4648](https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-ios/pull/4648)
 - Fix a rare crash during playback when an audio buffer fails to allocate [#4645](https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-ios/pull/4645)

podcasts/MiniPlayerViewController.swift

@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ class MiniPlayerViewController: SimpleNotificationsViewController {
         textStack.alignment = .leading
         textStack.spacing = 2
 
+        addPlayButtonBounce()
         let buttonStack = UIStackView(arrangedSubviews: [skipBackBtn, playPauseBtn, skipFwdBtn])
         buttonStack.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
         buttonStack.axis = .horizontal
@@ -221,6 +222,33 @@ class MiniPlayerViewController: SimpleNotificationsViewController {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Adds a springy scale-up-and-settle-back response to the play/pause
+    /// button so the translucent accent circle feels tactile on tap.
+    private func addPlayButtonBounce() {
+        playPauseBtn.addTarget(self, action: #selector(playButtonTouchedDown), for: .touchDown)
+        playPauseBtn.addTarget(self, action: #selector(playButtonReleased), for: [.touchUpInside, .touchUpOutside, .touchCancel])
+    }
+
+    @objc private func playButtonTouchedDown() {
+        guard !UIAccessibility.isReduceMotionEnabled else { return }
+        UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.18, delay: 0, usingSpringWithDamping: 0.5, initialSpringVelocity: 0.8, options: [.allowUserInteraction, .beginFromCurrentState]) {
+            self.playPauseBtn.transform = CGAffineTransform(scaleX: 1.2, y: 1.2)
+            self.playPauseBtn.alpha = 0.75
+        }
+    }
+
+    @objc private func playButtonReleased() {
+        guard !UIAccessibility.isReduceMotionEnabled else {
+            playPauseBtn.transform = .identity
+            playPauseBtn.alpha = 1
+            return
+        }
+        UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.55, delay: 0, usingSpringWithDamping: 0.35, initialSpringVelocity: 0.7, options: [.allowUserInteraction, .beginFromCurrentState]) {
+            self.playPauseBtn.transform = .identity
+            self.playPauseBtn.alpha = 1
+        }
+    }
+
     override func updateViewConstraints() {
         if #available(iOS 26.0, *), let glassButtonStack, let glassProgressView {
             let isInline = forcedInlineLayout ?? (view.traitCollection.tabAccessoryEnvironment == .inline)
@@ -620,11 +648,16 @@ class MiniPlayerViewController: SimpleNotificationsViewController {
         episodeTitleLabel?.textColor = .label
         timeLeftModel?.color = Color(ThemeColor.primaryText02())
 
+        // A slightly translucent accent circle lets the tab bar's glass show
+        // through for a vibrant, glassy feel (without the buggy UIGlassEffect).
+        // The skip glyphs reuse that same translucent accent so all three
+        // controls share one color.
+        let accentColor = iconColor.withAlphaComponent(0.8)
         playPauseBtn.playButtonColor = bgColor
-        playPauseBtn.circleColor = iconColor
+        playPauseBtn.circleColor = accentColor
 
-        skipBackBtn.tintColor = iconColor
-        skipFwdBtn.tintColor = iconColor
+        skipBackBtn.tintColor = accentColor
+        skipFwdBtn.tintColor = accentColor
 
         glassProgressView?.tintColorOverride = actionColor
     }