Messages 5.5 and Google Phone 44 betas add Material Theme icons

Abner Li | Jan 30 2020 - 12:38 am PT

The majority of Google apps today have been revamped with the company’s latest design language. There are some minor exceptions, with recent Google Phone and Messages betas introducing Material Theme icons throughout.

Google Phone 44 earlier this week further detailed call recording and transcription, with 9to5Google enabling those capabilities yesterday. The latest version of the dialer — currently in beta — also added Material Theme icons for the entire UI.

Icons for Favorites and Contacts in the bottom bar feature thick outlines, but hollowed-out interiors. In the Recents tab, you’ll notice how audio and video call shortcuts next to each conversation have been tweaked. The same treatment is applied to the microphone button in the “Search contacts & places” field, as well as on the actual calling screen.

: 5.4

: 5.5

: 5.4

: 5.5

Meanwhile, the Messages 5.5 beta also introduces Material Theme icons. The most notable change is for the wide oval FAB to “Start chat.” There’s an entirely new one that matches the general shape of the app icon. Like in Phone, the audio and video buttons have been updated app-wide.

Material Theme icons in Messages and Google Phone are small changes, but increase consistency and make the two apps feel of a family given the shared communications functionality. Both are available in beta and should hit the stable channel in the coming weeks.