Google has started rolling out an update to News, its app that aggregates news based on user interest across Android, iOS, and the web. As discovered last week, the new version of the tool brings small design changes that make its layout even more integrated with the visual identity of Material You.
The screenshot below shows that the app’s bottom bar has new buttons that now stand out in “pills” in the same classic Google blue shade. Android dynamic colors are not currently supported. See how it turned out:
Before, the bottom bar was completely white (or gray, in dark mode), and the highlight buttons also had the classic Google blue tone, but only colored the icon and the caption of the buttons in the “For you”, “ Headlines”, “Following” and “Banking”. It is possible that in the future, Google will show the dynamic theme in News.
The changes seem to be taking place only in the Android app, as the tablet version has had the new look for a few days. It may take some time for the update to be available to all users. The staff of Phone Arena spotted the change on a Pixel 6 Pro running Android 13 QPR3 Beta 3.
Google is still working on making all of its apps look consistent with Material You elements. Dynamic colors, more rounded geometric shapes and a friendlier and more readable text font are some of the characteristics of this visual identity that should continue to be improved with the release of Android 14.
