Google’s flashy Material 3 Expressive is official, but it’s not coming right away

After weeks of leaks, the next big visual refresh for Android is finally official. Today, in Google’s pre-I/O Android Show stream, the company detailed its upcoming UX overhaul, called Material 3 Expressive. What Google showed lines up with the leaks: bigger buttons, bolder fonts, and lots of subtle, “springy” animations that make Android feel more, well, expressive. It’s set to roll out to Pixel phones in Android 16 — but not right away.

In a blog post, Google details how Material 3 Expressive is meant to make Android more visually appealing and easier to use. There’s a focus on creating interfaces with large, easy-to-find touch targets and even bolder use of accent colors, as well as new animations that make the interface seem more responsive and natural. Quick settings buttons can be resized with Material 3 Expressive, so you can fit more of them on one screen.

Google’s also bundling in its new Live Updates notifications with Material 3 Expressive. Live Updates are Android’s answer to iOS’s Live Activities: they show a custom UI for ongoing activities — for example, food delivery — on both your always-on display and prominently on your lockscreen. With your phone unlocked, Live Updates are shown as colored chips in your task bar. Tapping the chip expands the notification without navigating away from whatever else you’re doing.

Coming to Android 16 later this year

Material 3 Expressive is both a new design language for Google’s version of Android, as well as style guidelines that third-party app developers can choose to follow. Google tells us that Material 3 Expressive won’t be included in Android 16’s initial stable rollout on Pixel phones, which we’re expecting in June, but that a new Android 16 beta will include more aspects of Material 3 Expressive later this month. The new design language is coming to stable Android and Google’s own apps later this year.