Last week, Google accidentally released an early published information about the new design of Android 16 – Material 3 Expressive. Then the company quickly removed the published materials, and now the update has been officially announced. During The Android Show: I/O Edition, Google presented a new version of its proprietary design code — Material 3 Expressive. It should be available later this year, starting with Pixel devices. The main idea is to make Android more expressive, lively, and enjoyable to use.
Google wants to add emotion to the Android experience. A new approach to animations and tactile effects is one of the main features of Material 3 Expressive. For example, when you swipe a notification, you’ll feel a pleasant vibration, and neighboring notifications will respond gently to your actions. The same applies to gestures in the recent apps menu, changing the volume, or opening the notification curtain.
The background blurring effect in the Quick Settings panel, notifications, and multitasking mode adds depth and does not distract from the context. In addition, Google is updating typography, introducing responsive components and new dynamic color themes that better respond to content and device design.
The company assures that the update will not affect the performance or battery life of the devices — everything should work as smoothly as before.
Changes in Android 16 are noticeable from the lock screen. If there are notifications, the date and weather forecast will now appear to the right of the clock. Without notifications — the information is placed below the clock, near the fingerprint scanner icon.
Live Updates — active notifications from delivery services, taxis, or navigation apps will appear on the lock screen and in Always-On Display mode. When unlocked, tapping on the Live Updates icon next to the time will show the full notification. Such notifications will also be displayed first in the notification list.
The status bar will have new icons that clearly separate the types of information. And the At a Glance widget on the home screen will become more compact.
When calling up the notification curtain, users will see a blur effect that allows them to see the wallpaper in the background. Pill buttons will appear at the bottom: Notification history, Clear all, Notification settings.
In the full Quick Settings panel, the buttons (tiles) have become scalable — you can fit more functions. Active tiles change their shape from a pill to a rounded rectangle. The brightness slider now looks more massive and has a visible «grip», and the volume slider has received a similar update.
Google not only showed the new Material 3 Expressive design for Android 16 and Wear OS 6, but also shared the first examples of redesigning its own applications.
Fitbit is updating its stats pages — in particular, for counting steps. The top tabs Day, Week, Month, Year have now been moved to the bottom of the screen and are designed as floating «pills», which improves the ease of use with one hand. The layout of the information remains almost unchanged, but now, when you reach a goal, the graph is highlighted in brighter colors, and the «completed» mark is placed in an expressive Material-style shape.
Gmail has redesigned the main page with the list of emails. Each message is now placed in a separate card with rounded top corners. Swipe animation (for example, to archive an email) has become more noticeable. The search field, the menu button, and the account switcher are now on a separate background with a brighter design theme. The «Write» button has also been made larger and more visible.
Google Photos has a new look for albums in full screen mode. The floating toolbar for sharing, adding, and editing photos — is now more focused and clearer at the bottom than in previous versions, where it was located at the top.
Material 3 Expressive is not just a cosmetic update. It’s an attempt to make Android more alive, more sensual, and more convenient. The updated design will first appear on Pixel smartphones with Android 16 at the end of this year. Later, it will be integrated into Google apps — we already know that the updated Google Keep and Gemini widgets are also based on the new design code.
Google plans to release a stable version of Android 16earlier than usual. Earlier it was reported that Android 16 may receiveprofessional settings for photographersandwill allow you to unlock Google Pixel with your fingerprint with the screen turned off.
.
Source: 9to5google 1, 2