Skip to main content

Material You’s new progress bar design asks you to mind the gap

Google’s refinement of Material You components continues with an updated design for progress bars.

As spotted by Dylan Roussel on X/Twitter, Google in December introduced “visual design and color updates” for Material You’s linear and circular “progress indicators.” 

Top: M2 | Bottom: M3

In Material 2, this UI element was very straightforward with a “boxier, neutral style.” They now feature rounded corners, with the biggest difference being a gap between the active indicator (what has already played, downloaded, etc.) and the “track” (remainder). 

  • Material You progress bar
  • Material You progress bar

Besides Dynamic Color support and the “new motion behavior,” there’s also now “higher contrast between track and active indicator to enhance the perception of progress.” These Material You progress bars also add an “end stop indicator to improve accessibility”:

  • “The stop indicator is a 4dp circle that marks the end of a linear determinate progress indicator to meet accessibility standards.”
  • “The stop indicator is required if the track has a contrast below 3:1 with its container or the surface behind the container.”

Google has already implemented this element in some Android apps. Open the Play Store and tap your avatar to see the updated Play Points progress indicator. (For comparison, you can find the old style used by the storage indicator in Manage apps & devices.) It’s also live when you’re downloading the necessary resources for Google Assistant.

Update: You can also see it in Google Photos (version 6.66).

More on Material You:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications