Google Accidentally Reveals Android's Material 3 Expressive Interface (arstechnica.com) 35
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google's accelerated Android release cycle will soon deliver a new version of the software, and it might look quite different from what you'd expect. Amid rumors of a major UI overhaul, Google seems to have accidentally published a blog post detailing "Material 3 Expressive," which we expect to see revealed at I/O later this month. Google quickly removed the post from its design site, but not before the Internet Archive saved it.
It has been a few years since Google introduced any major changes to its Material theming, but the design team wasn't just sitting idly this whole time. According to the leaked blog post, Google has spent the past three years working on a more emotionally engaging vision for Android design. While the original Material Design did an admirable job of leveraging colors and consistent theming, it could make apps look too similar. The answer to that, apparently, is Material 3 Expressive.
Google says this is "the most-researched update to Google's design system, ever." The effort reportedly included 46 separate studies with hundreds of sample designs. The team showed these designs to more than 18,000 study participants to understand how the user experience would work. In these studies, the design team used a variety of metrics, including the following:
- Eye tracking: Analyzing where users focus their attention
- Surveys and focus groups: Gauging emotional responses to different designs
- Experiments: Gathering sentiment and preferences
- Usability: Seeing how quickly participants could understand and use an interface "The result of all this is an interface that appears much more varied than the previous Material Design," writes Ars.
You can check out 9to5Google's article, which preserved many of the blog post's visuals before they were removed.
It has been a few years since Google introduced any major changes to its Material theming, but the design team wasn't just sitting idly this whole time. According to the leaked blog post, Google has spent the past three years working on a more emotionally engaging vision for Android design. While the original Material Design did an admirable job of leveraging colors and consistent theming, it could make apps look too similar. The answer to that, apparently, is Material 3 Expressive.
Google says this is "the most-researched update to Google's design system, ever." The effort reportedly included 46 separate studies with hundreds of sample designs. The team showed these designs to more than 18,000 study participants to understand how the user experience would work. In these studies, the design team used a variety of metrics, including the following:
- Eye tracking: Analyzing where users focus their attention
- Surveys and focus groups: Gauging emotional responses to different designs
- Experiments: Gathering sentiment and preferences
- Usability: Seeing how quickly participants could understand and use an interface "The result of all this is an interface that appears much more varied than the previous Material Design," writes Ars.
You can check out 9to5Google's article, which preserved many of the blog post's visuals before they were removed.
And still they dont care about the blind (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem with all of these big releases is that they never seem to ask the disabled what they need.
I wish Google Android would stop discriminating against the disabled.
Otherwise we don't really care about all this it's just shiny crap that doesn't really work.
Re: (Score:3)
Call a B1 bomber to kill people like that anon who dismiss valid concerns with "whaambulance".
Yes, that sentence glorifies violence. Trust me, he deserves it.
Re: (Score:1)
Wish I hadn't posted so I could mod this up.
ARIA solves this, doesn't it? (Score:2)
AFAICT ARIA adresses this problem, so it isn't really that much of an issue. Or am I missing something here?
Re:ARIA solves this, doesn't it? (Score:4, Insightful)
you probably miss the experience of actually having some handicap and trying to use the web or these devices.
aria is a good concept but has several problems. first, it's a very low priority for most developments, often only honored by institutional front ends that are bound by regulations to be accessible. second, even if the effort is put in to implement it you still need adequate client support, which is not easy and imo hasn't evolved much lately. it was a long battle to get browsers to provide more or less consistent support, and screen readers for example are good solutions but there aren't that many around, they tend to be expensive, complicated and hard to get going, require a lot of tweaking and are far from perfect.
one big hurdle for aria is obviously that there is little incentive to support it because people with accessibility needs aren't really a big enough market segment to make the effort profitable, and the effort usually isn't trivial at all in terms of design and consistent implementation, qa and maintenance. the other hurdle is the very nature of current interfaces, as the web transitioned more and more to mobile devices and from a document centered concept to shiny interfaces full of buttons, sliders and eye candy that are simply hard to convey.
from what i see this material 3 update goes decidedly in that direction, merely adding (pointless and imo questionable) aesthetics. paradoxically it appears to me the typical the product update you would expect from a working team that has run out of ideas and goals and just needs to deliver something to try and remain relevant.
Pastel was bad enough, this is worse (Score:2)
If those screenshots are anything to go by, this looks really awful. Reminds me of design cues from the 60s and 70s. Reminds me of a vintage car speedometer with the tall, skinny, rectangular fonts. People really want purple and pink widgets and difficult-to-read fonts? Will be interesting to see how long this lasts before the fad retreats and it starts looking out of date.
Hold on, I think I see some kids on my lawn that need to be yelled at...
MD Theme colors shown are an example ... (Score:2)
... and very easy to customize to your liking. That's one of the key features of MD. So this isn't really a problem, more of a feature.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm talking about "Material You." Have you used Android starting with 13? Apparently not. Sure you can customize the colors, as long as you like pastel. Your choice is pastel pink, pastel baby blue, pastel puke green, etc. Actual solid, fully saturated colors are gone, at least in the Google bits of the Android UI. Individual apps can use bright colors of course, yes. https://www.reddit.com/r/andro... [reddit.com]
Re: (Score:2)
It's a pity they are killing off indy devs... (Score:1)
Re: It's a pity they are killing off indy devs... (Score:2)
What's actually better? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
It's been a long running complaint of mine that these UI changes are created to do little more than make other UI folks happy. The features and functionality of android have been going down over the last few releases. Seriously who approved that stupid stacked clock forced onto our home screens only a few releases ago? The alarm feature of playing the news is now working about 1 in 5 days. I had to start running a launcher so I could setup my grid and shortcuts the way I liked. The calendar switched to week mode each time you add or modify an entry forcing you to swipe back into month mode. I'd love to see additional usability or useful features instead of the AI creep and dare I say Enshittification of the OS.
Pretty much this.
That stacked clock still annoys me on a daily basis and I've never found an option to change it back.
This is the result of UX... a bollocks pseudo-science meant to explain why designers make things that are contrary to proven HMI/HCI science. It has ended up with a situation of designers enjoying the smell of their own farts far too much and no-one willing or able to tell them they stink.
Do you mean this? (Score:2)
That stacked clock still annoys me on a daily basis and I've never found an option to change it back.
Settings / Display / Lock Screen / Double-line clock
(found by searching for "clock" in Settings)
Accidently my rear end (Score:1)
Put Down the Captagon (Score:2)
I just got the latest 15 yesterday and there are new text scaling bugs and they broke the Do Not Disturb tile. Battery drain jumped too.
Maybe they could take advantage of everybody being too broke to buy a phone and do a bug-fix release.
And breathe a little more.
P.S. There are only a dozen people outside of Silicone Valley who want a Gemini AI Phone.
Change is Scary (Score:2)
Why is tech change always forced on people? Is there a cultural issue where having something that works and does what someone wants is now something that has to be changed?
Re: (Score:2)
For everyone else, "Yes, change is scary".
Ha, well that's a bit of a biased take. When are they going to learn change is not "scary". Needless change is just annoying, especially when there are real Android usability flaws that they are not fixing, but instead endlessly fiddling with the UI in ways that make little usability difference but nonetheless require relearning where the obscure options are again. To what end?
Hey Android devs, why can't I mute the volume on a video call, still? I say still, except
Re: (Score:2)
Gen Z is still in their Playmobile phaze.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not that change is scary. It's that change gets in the way of getting things done in my life and does not enhance it or my ability to get the work done. In fact the changes often make things harder to do, not easier.
Re: Change is Scary (Score:2)
change for the sake of change is not "scary", it is annoying and an unnecessary cost to everyone.
Android jumped the shark years ago. (Score:2)
Bling alert!
Aside from turning you camera into a webcam for WfH, I can't think of a single feature since Oreo that would be an incentive to upgrade.
I'm stuck on Android 12 on a 4G phone and still get two days battery life; aside from being p*wned by dark forces due to lack of security updates, I will continue using it until (a) it stops working or (b) they shut off the 4G signal in favour of 6G.
To be fair, I'm getting old... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
It's called "engagement" and maximizing it is the goal of most companies now.
changing a UI while in use ... (Score:2)
Yes, I do mean "bankrupt the damn company!"
If they want a new UI, let them start a competitive company and see if anyone buys the product.
y preference: exactly how it was when I bought it (Score:2)
What's the big deal? (Score:2)
So they updated some widgets and added a few more button-bar variants, alignment options and atomic components. This has been done before, with customizing of material design. Giving this a major release number is more of a marketing-shtick than anything else IMHO.
a more emotionally engaging vision for Android des (Score:2)
da fuq? sounds like horseshit.
also, did they really accidentally leak this? doubt it
Re: (Score:2)
Oh I'm sure it will be, like a LOT of UI these days, very emotionally engaging.
I suspect that the emotions will be: frustration, annoyance, irritation, exasperation ...
I know I'm an old fogey, but I'd just like software to do what it's told - no 'interpretation', no 'personalisation', no AI hype -- just do what you've been asked to do and do it well.
We belong dead (Score:2)
The effort reportedly included 46 separate studies with hundreds of sample designs. The team showed these designs to more than 18,000 study participants to understand how the user experience would work.
If it takes this much effort to tune a UI for the mouth-breathing consumers, nuke it from orbit. The species is damaged beyond repair.