Google today officially unveiled Material 3 Expressive at its Android event, which took place a week earlier than the I/O 2025 conference. Google calls it one of the platform’s biggest design updates in years. The latest Material 3 Expressive brings deeper personalisation, smoother animations, enhanced glanceability, and consistent visual styling across Android phones, tablets, and Wear OS devices.
What’s new in Material 3 Expressive
- Material 3 Expressive brings fluid, springy animations, which Google says are designed to delight users during everyday interactions. Some of these include:
- Notification Dismissal: In the new update, when a notification is swiped away, nearby notifications subtly react to the gesture, accompanied by a satisfying haptic response. The notification shade background also features a blur effect so users can focus while still seeing what’s active in the background.
- System-wide Feedback: This update also introduces similar visual and tactile feedback across the system, from dismissing recent apps to adjusting the volume slider or pulling down the notification shade.
- Material 3 Expressive now allows users to pin more actions like Flashlight or Do Not Disturb in a compact view.
- A notable new feature is Live Updates, which delivers real-time progress notifications from select apps like Uber Eats. These updates appear prominently on the lock screen and shade, so users can easily track food deliveries, rideshares, or navigation without digging through notifications.
- Core Google apps like Google Photos and Gmail are also getting Material 3 Expressive. These apps now feature consistent visual themes that match the user’s system color and style preferences.
Material 3 Expressive comes to Wear OS
Google is also extending the Material 3 Expressive design to Wear OS, optimising it for the circular displays of smartwatches. Here’s what to expect:
- In Wear OS, animations trace the display’s curvature, and UI elements such as the pin pad and media controls now feature responsive motion.
- The chosen watch face theme now applies across the entire system UI, which should provide a seamless look and feel.
- Google is adding new glanceable buttons, which stretch to fit the screen and are easy to tap. Refreshed tiles also offer quick access to key functions, like messaging or starting a workout.
- With Wear OS 6, users can expect up to 10 percent more battery life thanks to further system optimisation.
Availability
Material 3 Expressive will roll out with Android 16 and Wear OS 6 later this year. It will be available first on Pixel devices. Google says it’s also working closely with partners to bring these enhancements to devices running Android 16 and Wear OS 6.
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