The new expressive redesign is finally incoming with the new Android 16 QPR1 beta!

Most of the changes we have previously leaked are now officialized by Google. As spotted on Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, the presence of this new "expressive design" is all over the system.

Here's a small re-cap of what's to be expected in the upcoming build:
• adding of blur all over the system, such as the app drawer (source) and the launcher overview (source);
• new status bar icons, similar to the ones from iOS (source);
• reworked recents view page with a newer (and cleaner) interface (source);
• clock personalization and wallpaper effects for customizing further your setup (source).
• the long awaited quick settings shown in photos, in contrast to the many experiments done with dual-shade...

...and many more! It seems like developers are really working hard on making Pixel phone's interface more customizable and enjoyable for the end-user, catching up with the latest trends introduced by the different skins present in today's phones market.

Are you happy with these finalized changes? Would you have preferred if Google took some more time and maybe rethought some of their design choices? Let us know below!

Introducing Material 3 Expressive Design

Google announced Material 3 Expressive, built upon Material You for Android 16, that is coming later this year, starting on Pixel.

Unlike BBK and Xiaomi which just blatantly copies iOS, Google notes that Material 3 Expressive was born out of research.

Over the past 3 years, through 46 separate research studies with hundreds of designs, and more than 18,000 participants from around the world, we’ve fine tuned a system that’s both beautiful and highly usable.

Background blur in the QS, Notifications panel & Recents adds a sense of depth & preserves context when navigating your device. When dismissing a notification, you’ll feel a “satisfying haptic rumble,” while other alerts next to it will “subtly respond to your drag.”

The updated design language includes new responsive components, “emphasized” typography, and “updated dynamic color themes.” The all-new Live Updates feature helps you easily track progress notifications from select apps.

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WearOS 6 To Feature Material 3 Expressive Design

There’s a heavy emphasis on animations, like “smooth transitions with shape-morphing elements that adapt to the smaller screen size.” When scrolling, animations “trace the curvature of the display,” while “lists animate to give you a sense of depth that makes information more accessible.” There'll be “motion and responsive feedback” in the PIN pad alongside while controlling the media and Wear OS Tiles will get a big update that adds density to fit much more information and multiple actions.

We’re bringing dynamic color-theming to the watch so that the theme you choose for your watch face applies to the entire system

WearOS 6 will deliver up to 10% more battery life!

Google is also bringing Gemini on your wrist in "coming months" & it will have access to apps/Extensions.

Let’s say you’re at the locker room in the gym, and you’ve already put your phone away. You can use Gemini to set reminders, like “Remember I’m using locker 43 today."

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