Google's Phone App Receives a Compact Makeover with Material 3 Expressive Design
The Google Phone app is getting a sleek new look! The app has recently undergone a transformation, adopting the Material 3 Expressive design language and shrinking its bottom navigation bar. This update is a significant step towards a more streamlined and visually appealing user interface.
Last year, the app received the Material 3 Expressive update, but it kept a rather prominent bottom bar for essential functions like Home, Keypad, and Voicemail. However, with the latest stable version 204, Google has trimmed down this bar, making it more compact and elegant. You'll notice the reduced padding above the tab indicator and some subtle adjustments to the text labels.
But here's the catch: this update is server-side. Users might need to force-stop the app to ensure they get the new design. And while the change is more noticeable with the dark theme, the actual space saved is minimal. It's more about bringing consistency to Google's app design language, as we've seen with Google Home's similar update last month.
And this is where it gets interesting: Google Photos, Google Fi, and Google Voice haven't received the same treatment yet, leaving them as outliers in the design consistency game. Meanwhile, the Google Phone app is still missing the 'Keep portrait mode' setting for users, and the highly anticipated Expressive Calling feature remains in beta.
Material 3 Expressive is making its way across Google's app ecosystem:
- Google Meet for Android embraces Material 3 Expressive with recent updates.
- The Gmail widget gets a facelift with Material 3 Expressive tweaks.
- Gboard shortcuts undergo a redesign, but at the cost of reduced density.
- Google Drive completes its full Material 3 Expressive redesign.
So, what do you think of Google's ongoing design language evolution? Are you a fan of the new compact navigation bar, or do you prefer the older, taller version? Share your thoughts in the comments, especially if you've noticed any other apps adopting this design language!
