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Mishaal Rahman \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
TL;DR<\/p>\n
Google is creating some expressive new animations to make Android feel more lively during interactions like swiping away notifications or pressing and holding the power button. These animations are part of a broader update to Google\u2019s design language, which involves major changes to Android\u2019s UI<\/a> aimed at making it more expressive. While Google is set to release Android 16<\/a> in just over a month, this update won\u2019t include the big UI overhaul we recently documented \u2014 that\u2019s coming later. For now, here\u2019s an early look at Android\u2019s expressive new animations.<\/p>\n \nYou\u2019re reading an Authority Insights<\/strong> story. Discover Authority Insights<\/a> for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n Expressive animations for dismissing notifications and recent tasks<\/p>\n Currently, when you swipe to dismiss a notification, it glides smoothly with your finger, almost frictionlessly. Soon, however, this animation will gain some \u2018weight\u2019. Google is adding physics-based animations for notification dismissals, meaning notifications will bounce and snap back into place if you partially swipe and let go. They\u2019ll also carry momentum from your flings when you fully dismiss them. Here\u2019s a video comparing the new notification dismissal animation to the old one from Android 15<\/a>:<\/p>\n In the recents menu, there\u2019s another change: if you swipe up on a task but let go before dismissing it, the next task will now jiggle slightly. This is a more subtle animation that many might not notice, as it only triggers when you interrupt the swipe-away gesture in the recents menu.<\/p>\n New animation for toggling Quick Settings<\/p>\n The other day I mentioned that Google is working on a new design for the combined notifications and Quick Settings panel<\/a>. More astute observers may have noticed a tiny detail in the redesign that I initially missed: the shape of the tiles changes based on their state. When a tile is enabled, its shape becomes a rounded rectangle. When it\u2019s disabled, it reverts to the usual oval shape. This transformation is quite noticeable when toggling Quick Setting tiles, as shown in the video embedded below:<\/p>\n Furthermore, when tiles are enabled, their icons are enveloped in a small rounded rectangle which also takes on a background color matching the system theme. This visual change appears to apply to all Quick Setting tiles we\u2019ve seen so far. Functionally, however, only certain tiles like Internet and Bluetooth remain expandable. For the other, non-expandable shortcuts, tapping anywhere on the tile (icon or background) performs the same toggle action.<\/p>\n Squeeze animation for long pressing the power<\/p>\n Android phones can be configured to trigger the voice assistant by pressing and holding the power button. Currently, there\u2019s no specific system animation for this action, aside from whatever the assistant itself shows when its overlay appears on screen. Soon, long-pressing the power button will play a brief animation before the assistant overlay appears. As you press and hold the power button, a black overlay will expand inwards from the screen borders, disappearing just before the assistant overlay appears.<\/p>\n Waveform in the volume slider when playing media<\/p>\n As part of Android\u2019s broader UI refresh efforts, Google is preparing to tweak the volume slider<\/a> that appears when you press a volume key. The new slider design is less rounded and features a thin rectangular handle. Additionally, the sound mode icons (like vibrate or silent) are now enclosed in discrete rounded rectangles.<\/p>\n What I didn\u2019t mention yesterday is that the three-dot menu icon at the bottom of the volume slider also gets a neat visual tweak, but only when audio is playing. During playback, the three-dot menu transforms into a tiny, animated waveform. The waveform doesn\u2019t appear to react to the actual audio being played, but it serves as a nice visual flair.<\/p>\n A more fidgety lock screen clock<\/p>\n Yesterday, I highlighted the new lock screen layout for Pixel phones<\/a>, which rearranges the At a Glance components and adds a new notification shelf<\/a> for a cleaner look. One other tiny lock screen change that I didn\u2019t mention then is the animation that plays when you tap the clock.<\/p>\n When you tap the clock, it \u2018fidgets\u2019 a bit, briefly expanding in size before shrinking back down. This animation currently only applies to the default lock screen clock, however, as it\u2019s the only one Google has configured to use a new \u2018reactive\u2019 font. This \u2018reactive\u2019 font capability is key to enabling greater customization for the default lock screen clock<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n That\u2019s all the new animations I spotted so far, but there could be others that I missed. I don\u2019t know exactly when these specific animations will roll out. While they seem tied to the larger Android UI overhaul effort<\/a> I\u2019ve previously documented, their release might happen sooner and not necessarily coincide directly with those broader changes. Android\u2019s full UI overhaul could arrive in one of Android 16\u2019s quarterly releases or perhaps even wait until next year\u2019s Android 17 update \u2014 we don\u2019t know for sure yet.<\/p>\n What do you think of Android\u2019s new expressive animations? Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n