Google Unveils New Android 16 and Wear OS 6 Design — Material 3 Expressive
Google introduced the new Android 16 and Wear OS 6 Material 3 Expressive design, based on Material You, which the company implemented in the OS almost four years ago. It is expected that the updates will be available for testing on Pixel devices at the end of 2025.
Material 3 Expressive is characterized by smoothness and presents a system of more elastic, springy animations. When interacting with a notification, neighboring notifications will slightly react to these actions. When a notification is dismissed, a tactile response will be felt.
Android has introduced updated dynamic color themes (which will affect the appearance of all system applications), more responsive interface elements, and expressive fonts. The company is working to bring these visual solutions to applications like Google Photos, Fitbit, and Gmail.
The new Live Updates feature allows tracking order progress notifications in some applications, similar to Live Activities on iPhone.
The Quick Settings panel is customizable for the user — you can add necessary functions, for example, flashlight or 'Do Not Disturb' mode. 'We've made sure that important notifications don't get lost among the others,' Google noted.
Android smartwatches have also received Material 3 Expressive. In Wear OS 6, the dynamic design with scroll animation follows the curve of the round display. Here, elements change shape to adapt to the smaller screen size, and tiles provide quick access to important information or actions, such as sending messages or starting a workout. Google will also add a dynamic color theme to watches, so that the theme selected for the watch face is applied to the entire system.
In Wear OS 6, Google is striving to improve performance and optimize power consumption. The company stated that this update allows for a 10% increase in battery life.
Details about the new Android Material 3 Expressive design language Google accidentally revealed in early May 2025. A leaked blog post indicated that Google's updated design will be focused on creating interfaces that 'establish an emotional connection with people'.
