At Google’s Android Show, the company revealed Android 16 Material 3 Expressive, one of its most significant design changes in years.
Material 3 Expressive brings new fluid, natural, and “springy” animations. For example, you’ll notice things bounce and spring back, and even feel a haptic rumble, when interacting with the operating system (OS). This will happen when you drag down the notification shade, dismiss a recent app, play around with the volume slider, and more. It’s a bit strange
There’s also a subtle blur to the background when you pull down the notification shade or quick settings, so you can still see apps you’re using in the background.
My favourite Material 3 Expressive feature is Live Updates. It’s similar to the Live Activities feature found on iPhones, which has been adopted and/or copied by other Android manufacturers like OnePlus and Samsung. Live Updates lets you track progress notifications from select apps like Uber Eats, ridesharing, and navigation apps.
Android is also updated with dynamic colour themes and responsive components, allowing you to customize your phone to your personal style and preferences.
Additionally, you can customize Quick Settings to squeeze in more actions like Flashlight and Do Not Disturb. I also noticed that you can make your Quick Settings look more like the iPhone’s Control Center.
While Android 16 launches later this month, Material 3 Expressive won’t be available until later this year. We may see this update alongside the Pixel 10 series, which is rumoured for August.
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