Following Gmail, Drive, and Docs/Sheets/Slides, Google Chat is now the latest Workspace web app to get a Material You redesign.
Google touts “updated font, colors, layouts, panel sizing and more.” There are two layers to this redesign, with the background, which is light blue, home to everything but the actual conversation thread, which remains white. There’s also a pill-shaped search field at the top.
Specifically, you’ll notice changes to the top app bar, left navigation, main message view, compose setup, new topic button, and the thread panel within direct messages and spaces.
This Material You redesign for Google Chat on the web is rolling out now and will be fully available over the coming weeks:
- Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
- Available to users with personal Google Accounts
Meanwhile, the company reminded users yesterday that Google Currents (Google+ for businesses) is shutting down on July 5. Spaces, which support up to 8,000 people, in Google Chat are the intended replacement, with Google continuing its rollout of “community” features. This includes the ability to set a Space as an announcements channel. Other capabilities listed as “coming soon” include:
- Post view metrics: Discovery and connection
- Full Chat API: Apps and workflow integration
- Google Groups sync with spaces for membership management
- Space management tools in Admin Console
More on Google Chat:
- Gmail getting 2-pane view on Android foldables
- Google Docs rolling out more customizable table of contents
- Google Chat now lets you add custom emoji
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