Can two NSPanel windows both display active/focused appearance simultaneously on macOS 26?

UI Frameworks AppKit
need_more_intvs OP
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I'm building a macOS app with two separate NSPanel windows, both using the new liquid glass material (NSVisualEffectView / macOS 26). The UI intentionally has two separate floating panels visible at the same time. The problem: only the key window displays the active liquid glass appearance. The non-key panel always renders with the inactive/foggy appearance, even with:

NSWindowStyleMaskNonactivatingPanel canBecomeKeyWindow = false orderFrontRegardless() addChildWindow(_:ordered:)

Is there any way — documented or otherwise — to force the active liquid glass appearance on a non-key NSPanel? Or is this fundamentally a compositor-level restriction? If it's impossible with two separate windows, is there an alternative approach to achieve two visually separate liquid glass boxes that both appear active simultaneously?

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DTS Engineer OP
Apple
4h

Hello @need_more_intvs,

Do you mind sharing an example of a minimal project that demonstrates this?

I want to ensure the discussion is relevant to your approach.

Thank you,

 Travis

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Can two NSPanel windows both display active/focused appearance simultaneously on macOS 26?
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