Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google Maps is testing a Materials 3 Expressive-style redesign on Put on OS 5.
- The brand new UI options bigger icons and an improved format.
- The modifications have solely been rolled out to pick out customers to this point.
Google Maps is getting a recent look on smartwatches, and it’s not ready for Put on OS 6 to do it. The app is now testing a redesigned interface with some customers on Put on OS 5, introducing a bolder, extra trendy format consistent with Google’s Materials 3 Expressive design.
Screenshots and video shared with us by Telegram person Hardik present a number of UI modifications. Captured on a Galaxy Watch 4 operating Maps model 25.23.01.766241648.W, the brand new look options bigger icons and format decisions that higher go well with small round screens. Ceaselessly used actions like “Residence,” “Work,” and “Recents” now seem as colourful modules, whereas navigation modes are introduced as compact drugs with clearer icons.
Right here’s a video of the wearable in use with the brand new design parts:
It’s a noticeable departure from the previous UI, which leaned closely on minimalist icons and black menus. The place earlier variations usually buried choices in stacked lists, the up to date format brings every part to the floor with greater contact targets, echoing related modifications seen just lately in redesigned Put on OS variations of Gmail and Preserve.
Take a look at these screenshots of the brand new UI:
Whereas the Maps redesign doesn’t embrace the complete theming discovered within the Put on OS 6 developer preview, it nonetheless displays Google’s broader push towards consistency and accessibility throughout its smartwatch apps.
Evaluate the photographs above to how the interface presently seems to be for many Put on OS Google Maps customers, as proven beneath:
Google hasn’t formally acknowledged the rollout, and never all customers are seeing the brand new format but throughout this testing section. Nonetheless, with extra core apps beginning to comply with go well with, it’s one other signal that Google is laying the groundwork for a extra unified visible expertise.
