More Material You features are becoming apparent: new design elements, Google Files, and Chrome makeover
Material You was announced at this year’s I/O Conference as the newest design language and successor to Material Theming. During the unveiling, Google also introduced how Android app developers could use this framework in their apps. Slowly but surely, more and more apps are starting to show these Material You features. The latest app sporting a Material You redesign is the Google Files app, while the Chrome app is now embracing these features wholeheartedly.
Beta versions of Google Files for Android 12 have been rolling out to users in the last few weeks. This version functions pretty much the same, and even the layout is similar to the previous version; however, the Material You redesign is apparent. On beta versions of Android 12, the standard blue tones found in Files have been replaced with the signature Dynamic Colors. Although it is not the official Material You colors, this addition hints at a change once Material You is officially released later this year.
Another change to the design of the Files app is a subtle difference in the upper bar where the app logo and search bar are found. The shadow effect has been removed, and instead, the bar transitions from white to blue as users scroll. The font used within the app has also changed from the original Roboto to the new Google Sans Text, and the headings now use both uppercase and lowercase letters instead of the usual uppercase only.
While Google Files is the latest app to receive some Material You elements, Google Chrome has expanded on these features even more. Being one of the first Android apps to hint at Material You with a bit of color extraction, Chrome is now going full out with a Material You makeover.
Google has recently updated its dynamic color flag for Chrome on Android. This move is to support complete Material You color extraction. The browser will be applying fresh color hues across the entire UI, which will be unique to the wallpaper colors extricated by Android 12.
If you are on the Canary channel, you will be able to preview these new features by enabling two flags. To do that, you will need to copy and paste the two URLs below into Chrome’s address bar in bold and make sure to set the second flag to ‘Enabled Full’:
- chrome:flags#theme-refactor-android
- chrome:flags#dynamic-color-android
Once you’ve done this, you will need to restart Chrome to start seeing some of the new Material You features.
Closing words
Although these are still just glimpses of Material You, I am excited to see it spread to more Google apps and embraced wholeheartedly. After the letdown of Material Design, this would mark Google’s most ambitious move yet, and we look forward to seeing if the tech giant can continue impressing with Material You features.
