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Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
From blobs to bounce to bright colors, your phone is about to look and feel a lot different, with Google bringing more of an opinionated approach to its design than we\u2019ve ever seen before. In the world of software design, many are used to looking to Apple for inspiration, but Google\u2019s Material Design bucks that trend with its boldest and most daring design strategy yet. Is Google\u2019s more playful approach going to be a hit and entice an entirely new type of consumer to give Android a try? Or is it just going to alienate longtime Android users?<\/p>\n
In my time with the latest Android 16 beta, I\u2019ve encountered some of these new design elements, while some are not yet implemented. Let\u2019s dive into a few of my favorite interactions.<\/p>\n
Bringing Android to life with a bounce<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a new bounce throughout Android as a whole. That\u2019s the best word I can think of to describe how it looks and feels, and it makes the OS feel more functional, playful, and interactive, bringing it to life in a way that previous versions did not. The changes are subtle but important, adding up to an overall design that feels fluid and fun.<\/p>\n
The most obvious example of this is the new notification panel. Swiping to dismiss an alert now feels like you\u2019re peeling the notification away from the stack, in the best possible way. Swipe slowly to really see all the different aspects of this seemingly simple interaction all come together. The corners morph from slightly squared off to more round, the surrounding notifications move ever-so-slightly in the same direction as your swipe, and just at the right moment \u2014 about 10% of the way into your swipe \u2014 haptic feedback signals the point at which your chosen notification detaches from the stack, all while the remaining notifications bounce gently back into place. All of that comes together to create a really satisfying swipe gesture.<\/p>\n
Before this change, a notification dismissal felt independent of the surrounding notifications. You\u2019d swipe, the box would fly off the screen, and the stack would collapse together to fill the space. While it worked fine then, the whole experience just feels more cohesive and intentional now. And again, that snap \u2014 or haptic feedback, rather \u2014\u00a0 when the notification detaches from the rest of the stack is super satisfying.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a new bounce throughout Android as a whole…and it makes the OS feel more functional, playful, and interactive in a way that previous versions did not.<\/p>\n
Another example of Google\u2019s move toward motion is the increase in shape shifting with Material components. Google\u2019s updated design documentation now contains a ton of new tools and guidelines to create a more animated UI, like button groups<\/a>, where the selected button morphs into a more oval-like shape, while the unselected buttons remain more squared off.<\/p>\n You can already see this shape shifting in the new Quick Settings panel. When you turn on the flashlight, for example, the button goes from a rounded oval to a rounded square. This is a nice way to quickly visualize which buttons are activated and which aren\u2019t. And of course, there\u2019s that bounce again. The surrounding buttons animate with a bounce with each tap of the flashlight button, again leading to a more cohesive experience.<\/p>\n Since we\u2019re still in beta, there are still a lot of new design elements on the way. You can check out the full list of Material 3 Expressive components in Google\u2019s documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n It only matters if Google cares enough<\/p>\n