NewsTechnologyTechGoogle evolves Material You UI with new sliders and progress bars
Google evolves Material You UI with new sliders and progress bars
Google rolls out redesigned progress bars and sliders with Material You aesthetic. Rounded corners, color contrast - small but meaningful tweaks.
Google’s Material You design language continues to evolve, with the company recently introducing visual updates to progress bars and sliders. As noted by Dylan Roussel on X, Google rolled out rounded corners, new motion behaviours, and heightened colour contrast to progress bars.
The updated progress bars ditch the previous boxy aesthetic for a sleeker rounded look. Google also added a gap between the “track” and active indicator to better highlight progress. This aims to enhance accessibility and clarity. End-stop indicators have also been added.
Some Google apps like the Play Store and Google Photos already utilize these refreshed progress bars. For example, opening the Play Store and tapping your profile icon surfaces the new-look Play Points indicator. Google Assistant’s download progress bars also employ the updated Material You aesthetic.
Beyond progress bars, Google also tweaked the design of Material You sliders. Sliders allow adjustment of settings like volume and brightness. The previous thin slider line has been replaced with a pill-shaped thick track. The handle is now a simple vertical line rather than a circle.
Similar to progress bars, Google built in a gap between the slider handle and track. The handle adjusts in width when selected, becoming very thin temporarily. Slider tracks also adapt their shape when sliding to the edge.
While Google has launched the new progress bars in some apps, the redesigned Material You sliders have yet to rollout. But the changes signal Google’s intent to continually refine and improve its cross-platform design language.
Subtle tweaks like increased contrast, rounded edges, and intuitive motions aim to boost usability and accessibility.
That said, not all Android skins will see these changes. Ones that run stock Android like Motorola, Nothing, and of course, the Google Pixels will likely see these tweaks across the board once they roll out. Others will only see them on apps compliant with Material You, like Google’s suite of apps.