It’s about time Android got some love and attention, and Google will oblige with a new design philosophy known as ‘Material 3 Expressive’, building upon the roots implanted when it debuted the ‘Material You’ makeover alongside Android 12 nearly four years ago. Announced at this year’s Google I/O show, the search giant plans to make Android more reactive, customisable, animated, and generally easier on the eyes.
Making Android pretty again
It’s not out just yet, but it’ll be available to all Android devices as part of the Android 16 and Wear OS 6 updates, due out later this year. Until then, all we’ve got to go on is Google’s word and a lengthy preview showing off Material 3 Expressive’s Apple-like “natural, springy animations” and “dynamic colour themes.” This new design isn’t just limited to your device’s OS, but will eventually come to Google’s first-party apps like Gmail, as well.
Fear not, for this update won’t involve teaching an entirely new OS to the older folks in your life. It’s sticking with the same navigation we’re all familiar with, but with deliberate changes meant to greatly enhance the experience. For example, Google draws our attention to how swiping away a notification makes others around it bounce and react – or how there’s now a satisfying haptic rumble when dismissing it completely.
“You get similar moments like this across your device, like when you’re dismissing an app in your recent apps screen, fidgeting with the volume slider or flinging down the shade. We even subtly blur the shade background to provide a sense of depth, so the motion feels lightweight and you’re able to stay aware of the apps you’re using in the background,” Google said.
Customisation is a key area Google wants to focus on going forward, and it’s starting by allowing users to cram in even more buttons into their device’s Quick Settings panel. But perhaps the bit we’re most excited by is the addition of what Google calls ‘Live Updates’, which highlight notifications from select apps, and help keep them front and centre, and not buried under an avalanche of other apps vying for your attention.
For apps like Uber Eats or Mr. Delivery, Live Updates will take this a step further, providing a glanceable Live Update to track your delivery progress, all in real-time, without any real need to head back into the app until your food has arrived. Live Updates will extend to most food, rideshare, and other navigation-based apps, ensuring you’ll never miss ’em.
Now Watch this
As for how Material 3 Expressive will affect Android-based watches by the time Wear OS 6 arrives later this year, users can expect smaller, less intrusive but still very noticeable changes meant to simplify the experience, with a bigger focus placed on putting that full circular display to use.
“As you scroll, lists animate to give you a sense of depth that makes information more accessible. We’ve also refreshed daily experiences like using the pin pad and controlling media with motion and responsive feedback.”
The same goes for buttons on the device, which now stretch to fit the curvature of the display, making them easily tappable, especially at a glance. Notifications and tiles are also said to be more engaging than they were before, offering quick access to information and actions that you need, like starting a quick workout or responding to a family member on short notice.
Even if you aren’t all that fussed by a general makeover, Google’s promises of improved performance – supposedly delivering up to 10% more battery life for each device – cannot be ignored. Whether it can follow through on such lofty goals remains to be seen when Material 3 Expressive launches later this year. There’s no exact date for when that’ll happen, though Google says Pixel devices will be the first to try it out.
