- Google Android apps are going Material 3 Expressive, and Phone got started with a beta last month.
- In addition to the new look, Phone also added a new gesture select option for answering calls.
- This week, availability of both changes appear to be heading out much more widely.
App by app, Material 3 Expressive is making its presence felt across Google’s Android software library, and we are here for it. This summer, we’ve been digging through Google’s Android updates to get an early look at all the work the company’s developers have been putting in to bring this bouncy, fun, high-contrast look to all its apps. While a lot of times those changes aren’t yet publicly visible, last month we saw some of those Expressive tweaks start actually arriving for testers of the Google Phone app.
The changes that beta testers started getting back in June were actually two-fold. Like we’re seeing with so many other Google Android apps, elements of that Expressive makeover change the look and feel of the UI. The pattern in Phone follows the trend we’ve already observed, with rounded edges, more pill-shaped elements, and contrasting background colors.