Google reveals brand new Android 16 design with Live Updates for Google Pixel 9 and the like
After Google recently leaked the new Material 3 Expressive design, the new look of Android 16 was officially unveiled today. While the final version of Android 16 is scheduled for release in June, the Material 3 Expressive user interface will follow later this year, initially on Google Pixel smartphones such as the Pixel 9. Smartphones from manufacturers with their own in-house user interface, such as Samsung's One UI, are likely to forgo Material 3 Expressive.
Material 3 Expressive is intended to make the Android 16 user interface more emotionally compelling. For this, Google is not only making use of even more intense, user-customizable colors, but also of more distinctive shapes, such as displaying app icons in star or diamond shapes. As the video embedded below shows, many animations are both more expansive and smoother than before. Whether adjusting a volume slider, deleting an email or opening the quick settings - Google is leaving no feature unchanged.
The increased use of blurred backgrounds is intended to create a sense of depth. None of these updates should affect the performance or battery life of smartphones. Although Google is revising the layout of the lock screen and the icons in the menu bar, the fundamental structure and operation of Android will change very little, so users will not have to relearn how to use an Android smartphone.
There is, however, one new feature: Live Updates for delivery- and navigation apps. These live updates can be seen on the lock screen, in the status bar and in the quick settings, and provide information about takeaway deliveries, tracked parcels and the like. The quick settings can be customized in many different ways so that more settings can be placed on one screen.
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