May 14, 2025 12:35:00

Google announces 'Material 3 Expressive' design for Android 16/Wear OS 6, the first design change in about four years since the introduction of Material You

On May 13, 2025, Google announced ' Material 3 Expressive ,' a UX design for Android. This is a design standard that brings uniformity to the design of Android OS icons, toolbars, buttons, etc., and is said to realize 'emotionally appealing UX.'

Google launches Material 3 Expressive redesign for Android, Wear OS devices

https://blog.google/products/android/material-3-expressive-android-wearos-launch/

Start building with Material 3 Expressive - Material Design
https://m3.material.io/blog/building-with-m3-expressive

Introducing: Material 3 Expressive - YouTube


The Android Show: I/O Edition | Expressive Design - YouTube


Material 3 Expressive is essentially an update to Material You (Material Design 3), which was announced in 2021. Google has said that it is 'not a new version, not Material Design 4, and has no intention of discontinuing Material Design 3.'

The update has changed some of the button shapes, aligned text, and included icons and text inside the buttons. Changes have also been made to the animations that play when you touch various buttons. According to Google, 'these changes make animations clear and predictable.'


For example, the Floating Action Button (FAB) , a button that appears to float on the screen, has had its font changed from previous designs and the font size adjusted significantly, with the size of the button itself now also increased to 80dp and 96dp in addition to the original 56dp.

New designs have been added to

the indicators that are displayed when something is loading. The indicators have different designs depending on whether the wait time is known or unknown, and whether the wait time is short (200ms to 5 seconds) or long (more than 5 seconds). Below is the design used when the wait time is indeterminate and the loading is expected to be completed within 5 seconds.


There are two types of indicator shapes: flat and wavy. Below is the conventional flat.


Below is the waveform. According to Google, 'waveforms make long processes feel less tedious and more expressive.'


It also adds 35 new shapes that can be used to display icons and animations.

Like Material You, Material 3 Expressive can be incorporated into various apps, not just the Android system. If you change the display color of your device in the Android settings, the display color in the app will also change accordingly, so if the display color in your Android app changes to something you didn't intend, it may be due to Material You.

Material 3 Expressive will be available for devices running Android 16 and Wear OS 6. Android 16 is expected to be released around June 2025, while Wear OS 6 is expected to be released in the second half of 2025.