Google Messages is starting to implement a Material 3 Expressive overhaul of just the conversation interface, following Gmail for certain users and Photos.
Placing the message thread in a container with rounded corners at the top makes the app bar its own (darker) layer, which is the primary alteration to the conversation screen.
The Gallery, GIFs, Stickers, and other items are arranged in pill-shaped containers rather than circles in the “plus” menu, which is a distinct container. The wallpaper it uses is identical to that of the app bar. Additionally, Google eliminated the vibrant symbols and reduced the grid’s density.
The linked button group used to transition between Emoji, GIFs, Stickers, and Photomoji (which was the first item in the current design) is visible when you access the emoji menu. The current tab you are reading is a pill, and the entire thing is a circular container. Moving the search bar down one line eliminates back-to-back text fields, which is a welcome modification.
As of right now, we have one report of this going live with Google Messages beta version 20250528_00_RC00, namely the Samsung version. We examined other devices today, and we don’t notice it.
The home page, search, settings, and other areas of the app have not been changed today. It appears like Material 3 Expressive in Google Messages will be implemented gradually. In the meantime, the software usually takes a long time to go from beta or initial release to general release.
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