+101 - Vote for the best Android Apps

Both Google Phone and Google Contacts had Material redesigns earlier this month. As such, people began speculating that Android Messages would also soon be revamped, and it's finally happened. On top of the redesign, version 3.5 of Android Messages also brings a long-awaited dark mode.

left: Old. right: New.

My first thought when seeing this new interface was that it resembles Samsung's messaging app quite strongly, with the all-white background and the pastel colors for contact photos.

Android Messages v3.5 adds new Material UI with dark mode [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google Contacts got a UI revamp two days ago, and we'd been wondering when the Google Phone would get a matching refresh. The wondering ends now - Phone v23 beta has just been released, giving us a look at the latest and greatest phone interface from Google.

left: Old. right: New.

As with the Contacts refresh, there don't appear to be any changes in functionality. There are still four tabs on the bottom, and the settings menu appears to have the same contents.

Google Phone v23 brings an updated Material UI to match Contacts' [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

If there's anything Android users want, it's more white UI elements. Oh, is that not what you meant with your repeated calls for a dark mode? Google thought you were being sarcastic. As such, it has launched another redesigned app with an all-white Material interface. Get ready for Contacts 3.0 to sear your retinas.

The app itself appears to have all the same menu options and settings. The difference here is that it adopts Google's new Material Design style. The blue top bar is gone, replaced with a white section that transitions seamlessly into the scrollable contact list.

Google rolls out Contacts v3.0 with new Material interface [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google's Opinion Rewards app is the only official way to get free Google Play credit, which is why so many use it. Each survey, which usually only takes a couple of seconds, gives out anywhere between $0.10 and $1, and that can add up quickly with enough surveys. A new, Material-themed interface is being tested, and it looks a lot better than the current UI.

left: Current. right: Test.

We had been tipped about a new look for the 'Reward history' page in Opinion Rewards about a week ago, and it seems like that's available for most.

Google Opinion Rewards has a much improved UI in testing was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Material Design isn't some immutable standard. It's a flowing, breathing, evolving design. As our own former editor Liam (now a Googler) pointed out today, the current expressions we've seen of Google Material are just one potential way to implement the changing design philosophy. So if you're eager to check the possible futures for Google's Material designs, you should probably watch this video.

It's short, but it's pretty slick, reminding us of the original video announcement which accompanied the I/O 2014 reveal for Material Design.

Check out this cool video teaser showcasing Google's modern use of Material Design was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• Update 1: 2018/05/09 3:37pm PDT
  Pocket Casts' Chris Martin has confirmed, this is a preview of what we can expect in a coming update: We're working on updates to both Android
• Update 2: 2018/05/10 9:28am PDT
  We were able to get a statement from Shifty Jelly itself about the new design. We asked if this was going to be a new design, and if so, how

Pocket Casts was just recently purchased by a group which includes NPR, and the developers have reassured us that their plans for the app haven't changed.

[Update: Shifty Jelly statement] Google re-imagined Pocket Casts with a beautiful, modern Material design was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• Update 1: 2018/05/09 3:37pm PDT
  Pocket Casts' Chris Martin has confirmed, this is a preview of what we can expect in a coming update: We're working on updates to both Android
• Update 2: 2018/05/10 9:28am PDT
  We were able to get a statement from Shifty Jelly itself about the new design. We asked if this was going to be a new design, and if so, how

Pocket Casts was just recently purchased by a group which includes NPR, and the developers have reassured us that their plans for the app haven't changed.

[Update: Shifty Jelly statement] Google re-imagined Pocket Casts with a beautiful, modern Material design was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google has released a set of tools that help developers more easily create apps in line with both their own brand identity and the evolving Material Design guidelines. The Material Theme Editor, available as a plugin for the macOS design app Sketch, automatically applies consistent thematic changes to things like buttons, fonts, and color palettes throughout an app.

The process is called Material Theming, and it arose from a need to simplify the task of staying within Material Design guidelines.

Google aims to help devs customize Material Design with Material Theming was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• Update 1: 2018/05/09 3:37pm PDT
  Pocket Casts' Chris Martin has confirmed, this is a preview of what we can expect in a coming update: We're working on updates to both Android

Pocket Casts was just recently purchased by a group which includes NPR, and the developers have reassured us that their plans for the app haven't changed. But what if Pocket Casts had a slick new look to show for it?

Google re-imagined Pocket Casts with a beautiful, modern Material design was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

It looks like Chrome's iconic trapezoidal tabs might soon be going away. The tab's design, which has remained essentially the same since Chrome was first released almost 10 years ago, is undergoing a bit of a refresh, shifting from their old shape into more of a rounded-corner rectangle. The change is currently present (as an option) in the experimental Canary build of the browser.

We've been expecting a redesign for a while, with the first references to a "Material Design 2" spotted as early as February in the Chromium Gerrit.

Google is testing an alternative Material redesign for Chrome was written by the awesome team at Android Police.