Material You

Ahead of Material Design’s next evolution, let’s review Material You through the lens of first-party Google apps on Android. Specifically, I want to look at the adoption of Material 3 components, color, and adaptive layouts.

After testing earlier this year, Google is now widely rolling out a Material 3 redesign of Gmail on iPhone and iPad. 

Play Books was one of the last Google apps to get a Material You redesign in February of 2024, and it now has Dynamic Color theming.

Google Meet is redesigning some controls on Android and iOS, with the goal to “organize features in a more intuitive way.” 

Compared to Android, only some of Google’s iOS apps use the latest version of Material Design. Gmail for iPhone and iPad was finally updated with a Material 3 redesign today.

Despite the big Material You redesign happening in 2022, the Google Home app did not adopt Dynamic Color, though that’s finally changing.

Google appears to be adding Material You accent colors to Android Auto, with some colorful accents showing up in the latest updates.

Google is testing a Material 3 redesign of the Discover feed to the left of Android homescreens and in the Google app.

Strange behavior in Android 15 leaves Material You theming color palettes being duplicated, leading to fewer options, but Google says everything is “working as intended” – then changed its mind.

The vast majority of Google apps have updated their bottom bar to the latest Material 3 design. The Google (Search) app did that last year before reverting, and it’s now back. 

Following Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Google Calendar on the web is getting a Material You redesign that finally adds a dark theme.

On the web, Google Drive, along with Gmail, has one of the better applications of Material You, and it’s now getting a “smoother, more modern video player.”

The floating bottom bar introduced by Google Chat is almost a year old, and a design tweak makes it fit in better with Material You.

Following the last update over a year ago, Google Authenticator 7.0 on Android is rolling out with a Material You redesign and other new features.

Back at I/O 2023, the Material team previewed what’s next for Google apps on large screens, like foldables and tablets. Making Material You more expressive was one such goal and that’s now coming to fruition, while a short bottom bar is also coming.

Google is working on the latest set of Material 3 components, including a Floating App Bar and FAB menu. Keep in mind that Google has yet to announce these components, so they’re still a work-in-progress and might change.

While Google has generally been moving away from navigation drawers on Android, they still exist in several big apps. Nav drawers definitely have their place, but I wish first-party applications implemented them in a much more consistent manner.

Google is rolling out a number of updates to Chrome 126 on Android and iOS, including a Material You redesign of the address bar on tablets. 

Google is “no longer actively staffing” Material Web Components (MWC) and has “reassigned the engineers working” on it.  

Since the big revamp last September, Fitbit has been updating more and more of the mobile app. The latest example is a Material You redesign of Fitbit app settings on Android.