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These apps support Android 12’s ‘Material You’ wallpaper-based color themes

Coming with Android 12 on Pixel devices, “Material You” is the next evolution of Google’s design language, and it brings with it the neat ability to customize colors to match your wallpaper. This primarily affects system elements, but app developers can also tap into it. Below, you’ll find a list of apps that support Material You on Android 12, both first-party and third-party.

Google apps with Material You

It should come as no surprise that Google is leading the charge for Material You apps on Android 12. The company is, after all, best suited to implement the feature since it’s the one building it out from scratch. Ahead of Android 12’s formal release in the fall, we’ve already seen several apps updated to support the wallpaper-based color themes.

Google Phone (Beta)

Following the Contacts rollout, Google is also bringing Material You to its Google Phone dialer app. The app’s Dynamic Color support includes theming the search bar, buttons along the bottom bar, and the floating-action-buttons for the keypad and Google Duo.

Currently, the redesign is rolling out to beta users both on Android 12 and older versions.

Google Workspace apps

In September, Google announced and then started rolling out Material You refreshes to its Workspace apps on Android. This includes Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Keep, and others. These updates are rolling out during the month of September, but may take time to show up on your device.

Google Calculator

Perhaps the most teased redesign was Google Calculator, an update that finally arrived in version 8.0 that was distributed alongside Android 12 Beta 5. This redesign is a shining example of what Material You brings to the table for apps, with Google pulling in several colors for a truly beautiful design.

Google Clock

Also released alongside Android 12 Beta 5 was the Material You redesign for the Google Clock app. This update doesn’t change the layout of the app at all, but introduces splashes of color throughout the design and buttons, and incorporates more than one color in the UI. The update also brings some fantastic widgets.

Google Lens

Material You has also appeared in a small way within the Google Lens app, with a slighl redesign on older Android versions and with full Dynamic Color support on Android 12 devices.

Gboard (Beta)

Available in the latest Beta releases of Gboard, Android 12 users will notice that the keyboard’s default theme will adjust to match the accent colors of their device and change according to the wallpaper. This is most present in light mode but affects dark themes as well.

Google Camera

Live starting in Android 12 Beta 3, the Google Camera app picked up some accent colors that are powered by Material You. The colors show up as an accent on certain bits of the UI, including the mode picker, zoom slider, and various settings, too. You’ll also find tweaks in the larger settings menu depending on your wallpaper colors.

Files by Google

One of the first but most subtle Material You implementations we’ve seen to date is from the Files by Google app. You’ll only see minor color tweaks in the bottom bar and the top bar, but the latter only while scrolling. This is likely an unfinished version of what Google plans to eventually implement. At this point, the change is live even in non-beta versions of Files.

Google Contacts

One of the most recent additions to the Material You family is Google Contacts, and it also happens to be one of the best examples. Throughout the app, you’ll notice that buttons, backgrounds, and other accents pick up the color theme from your wallpaper. It’s especially obvious in light themes.

Chrome for Android (Canary)

Spotted by our own Kyle Bradshaw, Chrome was one of the first apps to start work on Material You support. Live now in the Canary release channel, the theming applies to tabs, the overflow menu, and other parts of the settings. Material You colors definitely act as an accent in this app rather than a core part of the UI.

Third-Party apps with Material You

Beyond Google’s own collection of apps, some third-party developers have also started bringing Material You colors to their apps. You can check out these apps below and stay tuned for our regular “MY apps” series, which looks into the latest examples of Material You in action.

This list will be updated on a regular basis as new options are released. If you are an Android developer adding support for Material You to your app, please reach out and let us know!

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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

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