Material 3 Expressive

Google has unveiled a new design for Android 16 and Wear OS 6 called Material 3 Expressive, which builds on the Material You the company brought to the OS nearly four years ago. The updates are expected to be available for testing on Pixel devices in late 2025.

Material 3 Expressive is smoother and features a system of more elastic, springy animations. When you interact with a notification, nearby notifications will subtly react to your actions. When you dismiss a notification, you’ll feel a haptic response.

Android has updated dynamic color themes (which will affect the look of all system apps), more responsive interface elements, and bold fonts. The company is working to bring these visual touches to apps like Google Photos, Fitbit, and Gmail.

The new Live Updates feature lets you track order progress notifications in select apps, similar to Live Activities on iPhone.

The quick settings panel is customizable – you can add the necessary functions, such as a flashlight or the Do Not Disturb mode. “We made sure that important notifications do not get lost among the rest,” Google noted.

Material 3 Expressive has also been added to Android smartwatches. Wear OS 6 features a dynamic design with scrolling animations that follow the curve of the round display. Elements change shape to accommodate the smaller screen, and tiles provide quick access to important information or actions, such as sending a message or starting a workout. Google will also add a dynamic color theme to the watch so that the theme you choose for the watch face is applied system-wide.

With Wear OS 6, Google is looking to improve performance and optimize power consumption. The company says the update will improve battery life by 10%.