Latest news with #UIupdate
Android Authority
3 days ago
- Business
- Android Authority
Google Photos is next for an Expressive overhaul, but is it actually better? (APK teardown)
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR An Android Authority teardown has revealed a couple of key visual changes coming to the Google Photos app. It looks like the app will get a new video player featuring larger controls and gestures to rewind and fast-forward. The app could also get an overhauled search results page, but I'm not completely sold on this change. Google is working on wide-spanning visual changes to Android 16 using its Material 3 Expressive style. We've since discovered that several Google apps are getting these tweaks. Now, it looks like Google Photos is getting a couple of visual updates as well. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. We conducted a teardown of the latest version of the Google Photos app (version 7.32.0.765953717) and enabled a couple of redesigned UI elements. Perhaps the most notable change is the overhauled video player, as seen below. Old player New player Fast-forward gesture in new player The most prominent change is the larger player timeline, complete with a vertical line for a scrubbing icon. The video duration now appears above the timeline, too, along with the pause and volume controls. Another notable change is that the new video player now displays the file's time and date at the top of the page, while the cast icon has disappeared. We've also got an Add to button at the bottom, alongside the existing Share, Edit, and Trash buttons. One more nifty addition to the new Google Photos video player UI is the ability to hold on the left or right sides of the video to rewind or fast-forward, respectively. You can check this out in the third image above, which shows a 2x alert at the top of the screen. These aren't the only UI changes we've spotted in Google Photos. The company is also working on a redesigned search results page. You can view the old and new pages below. Old UI New UI The new search results page brings the search bar to the bottom of the screen while also grouping the 'best match' items in a square gallery. This gallery takes up just over half of the screen, with the rest of the screen showing recent matches by date (e.g. April 3, January 26). However, you can tap the last image in this square gallery to reveal an expanded gallery view. By contrast, the current Google Photos search results page shows all matches in one big gallery while letting you switch between Most recent and Best match. The current gallery clearly shows far more matches at once from the get-go compared to the new UI. This suggests that you'll find your desired results more quickly in the current UI. This isn't the first time we discovered a redesigned Google Photos video player. We uncovered a redesign back in October 2024, but that tweaked player wasn't actually released. Therefore, there's no guarantee that this most recent visual overhaul will see the light of day, either. But it certainly seems in line with Google's Material 3 Expressive stylings, so we're optimistic about a wide release at some point. This isn't the only Google app slated to receive a visual overhaul for Android 16. We've also uncovered upcoming design changes for apps like Gmail, the Phone app, and Google One. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
25-05-2025
- Android Authority
If Google wants Material 3 Expressive to succeed, it must lead by example
Robert Triggs / Android Authority Every big UI update has its fans and detractors and Material 3 Expressive is no exception. I've seen so many contrasting takes online about Android's incoming design language refresh, with some loving the focus on aesthetics and others decrying the lack of practical additions. While I find myself in neither camp, at least not at this early stage, I do have one big concern. Given Google's history of design inconsistency across its various apps and products, it really needs to hit the ground running once it starts rolling out Material 3 Expressive. The refreshed, modernized design language is the boldest we've seen from Google thus far. Full of personality, it places a huge emphasis on blur effects, natural animation physics, and an abundance of color themes. We're also getting updated typography, a litany of new element shapes, and changes to Android's core UI components, like quick settings. It's a surprisingly broad stroke of the brush, and the latest attempt by Google to keep its mobile OS exciting and engaging. But these adjectives mean nothing: implementation — and the speed at which it happens — is what's important. Do you have faith that Google will roll out Material 3 Expressive quickly and decisively? 0 votes Yes, Google will do a great job! NaN % I think it will come to some of its apps immediately, but not all. NaN % No, Google will struggle to update its apps like it has in the past. NaN % Cohesion and consistency are what Android 16 and its apps really need Design languages are intended to bring cohesion and consistency to a UI experience. This, in turn, makes using apps from a given company on a platform more intuitive, predictable, and efficient. Any deviation from this due to a slow rollout or developer reluctance will disrupt this. Material 3 Expressive may possess the bones of the Material languages that preceded it, but it's still different enough to stand out against its predecessors. Since I installed QPR1 on my Pixel 8, I can see and feel the impact of Expressive within the Settings app, the Quick Settings shade, and the animations interlaced here and there. However, apps not yet updated to meet these new guidelines feel out of place. To be fair, I'm keenly aware of the differences, and those not actively seeking them may overlook them. Yes, it's early days, but it's a glimpse of the challenges users could face in the coming months. Material 3 Expressive may be a refresh of Material You, but the differences are tangible. Since its inception, Android has undergone several major changes, most notably the sharp and sensible Holo in the early 2010s and the first Material version soon after. More recently, Material You, which debuted in 2021, aimed to add more personality to the Android ecosystem and Google's apps. Ryan Whitwam / Android Authority Despite the years of history I just covered in this brief paragraph, Google's transition between these design languages has been anything but smooth. It took years for just a handful of Google apps to graduate from Holo to their Material redesigns. After its purchase, it took Google two years to refresh the Fitbit app with its Material vision. And let's not forget the lack of a dark mode for several high-profile apps, years after that feature was available in Android 10. Google has struggled to implement new design languages in the past, leaving several apps stuck between Holo and Material. While I'll give Google credit for adopting Material You far more swiftly and seamlessly than any previous design language, the same can't be said for earlier iterations. Clearly, these memories still haunt me. Beyond apps, inconsistencies still plague the company's widgets and icons even in the Material You era. Even NotebookLM, the company's newest app, barely follows Google's current design language. And four years after Google first introduced themed icons, some of its apps, like Analytics, don't support the feature and keep their original icon. Google is moving swiftly, but can it keep up the momentum? Google For Material 3 Expressive to succeed, Google must draw inspiration from its recent rollout successes that brought near-immediate and uniform changes to its apps and products. Thankfully, I've seen plenty of positive signs that Google is taking this path. Several Android apps are already in line to receive their Expressive updates. It's a fast, positive start. At Google I/O this week, the company made Android 16 QPR1 the launchpad for Expressive rather than doling out the redesign through a later update. This means the changes should be available immediately once the stable version of the OS rolls out. Our Authority Insights series has also uncovered several Google apps poised and ready to receive their Expressive updates. Google Clock, Files By Google, Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Google Drive are just some cornerstone apps leading the design charge, with more likely to come in the coming weeks. All of this is hugely encouraging, and considering that the big UI update won't be stable for a few months yet, the company has more than enough time to address the rest of its fleet. AssembleDebug / Android Authority Thankfully, I don't believe Google's task is too difficult this time around. The company admits that Material 3 Expressive isn't a massive overhaul but rather a refinement of the existing Material philosophy. The leap from Holo to Material was huge. Material You to Material 3 Expressive should be a small shuffle, so updates to its apps should come thick and fast once Android 16 arrives. However, even though the task this time around is simpler, Google still has to follow through. The leap from Holo to Material was huge. Material You to Material 3 Expressive should be a small shuffle. Hey, despite my qualms, I'm still pretty excited for the next iteration of Android, even though we could be in for a confusing mish-mash of Material You and Expressive apps at its inception. But here's to hoping that Google will move swiftly and decisively to implement its new vision across all of its properties.
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Netflix Reveals Big Overhaul, Here's What's Coming And When
Netflix Netflix It's been a while since Netflix changed its UI all that significantly, but now the company is about to roll out what it deems significant changes to how it looks and operates, as shown off in new trailers and blog post today. It doesn't look that different initially, but there is sort of a lot going on here. Here's what Netflix is saying about it: Navigation will be easier on the page with shortcuts to Search, Shows, Movies, Games, and My Netflix that will always be at the top of the screen, and you can get to those using the back button on your remote (this is mainly a TV UI update for now). 'Responsive' recommendations. The homepage will now give more and more personal recommendations based on your viewing habits or even 'exploring,' whatever that means. The idea is finding things you want to watch more quickly rather than endless scrolling. I'm not sure how this gauges how to 'suit your mood in the moment,' as the preview says, but that's the goal. There is a new 'My Netflix' hub which has your ongoing watches (this is good, as those can be annoyingly hard to find sometimes), and you can put shows on your 'to watch' list there. You can be reminded of when certain shows are releasing or returning as well. You can now read blurbs about each title you hover over without clicking through to the page (where the show often starts autoplaying a trailer or the series itself half the time). You can even see things like runtime, award wins, it's top 10 history or its cast. Again, the goal seems to be to get you to watch something straight from the page rather than scrolling. Netflix Netflix The term 'AI' is not used at all in this preview, which is honestly kind of surprising, given all the recommendation algorithms for your personal 'experience' and how much big tech has dove into this. I'm not sure if they are avoiding talking about AI on purpose because they realize it's annoying at this point, or if it's genuinely not using it. When is this coming? In two weeks starting May 19 where it will begin to roll out globally. Once you get it, you'll get a 'walkthrough' preview when you login, and the interface will look like this going forward. You almost certainly will not be able to change it back. Honestly, a lot of these seem like pretty good changes? Especially the info shown on the homepage for each title specifically. We'll see how it works in practice soon enough. Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , Bluesky and Instagram . Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .
