Google’s collaborative messaging platform, Google Chat, is starting to experiment with a visual update to get with the times.
Following in the footsteps of other core Google apps like Gmail, Google Photos, Chrome, Google Messages, and more, Google’s new Material 3 Expressive design language is now making its way to Google Chat.
This comes soon after the platform gained enhanced Gemini summaries, paired with an early look at Gemini’s functionality on the platform’s Android app.
For reference, some of these changes have already made their way to Google Chat within Gmail. The new development brings those changes and more to the standalone Google Chat Android app.
As spotted by the folks over at Android Authority after tinkering with Google Chat’s recent version 2025.06.15.773069301.Release build, these changes include a redesigned app home screen with a new bottom bar, tweaks to the direct messages list, ‘sections’ screen, clear separation between elements on the Sections screen, paired with very minor changes to the actual chat screen.
Broader consistency across Google’s apps
Old (left), new (right)
For starters, the app’s home screen bottom bar appears thicker with the new change, complete with a new plus icon to replace the current new chat floating action button (FAB). It also pops with a softer and more rounded aesthetic, which is consistent with Material 3 Expressive changes observed in other Google apps. Elsewhere, icons within the bottom bar are highlighted with a lighter background when compared to the current look.
The Direct messages screen appears to highlight the app’s search bar pill (at the top) in white instead of a gray gradient, paired with chats being grouped in contrasting containers. The Sections screen, on the other hand, separates Spaces and Apps into their own separate containers, paired with reduced boldness for headers across all pages.
Most importantly, the chat screen within the Expressive build appears with a gray message field (compared to the current transparent look), paired with a new vertical pill-shaped container for the attachment (plus) icon on the left.
These aren’t drastic changes by any measure, but they do mark crucial steps towards modernizing the app experience and bringing visual consistency across the tech giant’s suite of core apps.
