Android 12 Beta

Android 12 DP3: Rounded ‘bubbly’ corners now used with all key UI elements

Damien Wilde | Apr 21 2021 - 11:04 am PT

Android 12 is set to provide some of the most extensive UI tweaks and redesigns, with a wide array of UI elements and menus receiving a larger “bubbly” look in the latest Developer Preview 3.

A large number of the most prominent UI elements, dialog boxes, and menus, including the pop-up side volume panel, are on the receiving end of these changes in Android 12 DP3. We can definitely foresee this as being a divisive change for Android 12. Instead of the usual boxed-off look that has been a key component of Android 9 through Android 11, Android 12 is softening up sharp edges.

The UI tweaks even extend to the media player preview window in Android 12 DP3, as artist album art is now rounded to emulate the bubbly aesthetic used elsewhere. Changes extend as far as the Recents app menu, while the Pixel Launcher now has rounded corners when swiping up into the App Drawer. As we have said, this could be a very divisive change to areas that haven’t necessarily felt as though they even require such an overhaul. You can see just a handful of the differences between the Android 11 and 12 UI below:

That said, if Google plans to bring about more UI changes in upcoming Android 12 Beta builds, the changes made elsewhere to areas such as the Settings menu may have the entire OS look and feel slightly less cohesive — at least from a design perspective.

Because animations have also been tweaked to be more “bouncy,” the usage of bubbly or rounded corners for most menus and major UI elements does begin to make more sense, especially given the samey feel of previous updates when compared to their predecessors. Let us know down in the comments section what you think of these tweaks. Android 12 Developer Preview 3 definitely feels a little One UI in its execution.