What if the Google app looked nice on Android?

Abner Li | May 24 2024 - 3:15 pm PT

It was the addition of a “Notifications” tab this week that broke the camel’s back for me. The Google app on Android is in desperate need of a redesign.

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It should be the company’s flagship app given the namesake, but it’s really not. (I’d probably give that title to Google Photos with its animated Material You carousel.)

Related: Google Password Manager rolls out Material You redesign on Android

Let’s start with the non-Material 3 bottom bar. All the other major first-party apps have one, including the iOS Google app. The lack of consistency is just an eyesore at this point. The app briefly tested one, but it was pulled for some reason.

The Discover feed is the first thing people see, though the top portion is dedicated to Search. While the Material 3 guidelines call for slightly taller search bars (see: Gmail), the one here feels humongous and disproportionate. It’s trying to draw attention to something people already know about.

Then there’s the carousel of pill-shaped buttons that are equally large and give off the impression of two near identical bars. The shortcuts for Google Lens and Hum to Search are a good idea, but they feel shoehorned in at this point.

Google is working on an alternate design where it’s part of the search field and looks quite integrated and compact. However, I wonder how that would fit in with the bottom search field that has been tested. The question there is whether Google will ever proceed with a design that’s a departure from what google.com roughly looks like. Personally, I don’t mind it at the bottom as long as it doesn’t interfere with scrolling through results.

Keep in mind there’s another carousel after this first one. This is part of Google Discover since it also appears above the feed that’s available to the left of your homescreen. I find these cards to be almost like watch complications and find them pretty useful for the weather, air quality, sports scores, stocks, and soon sunrise/sunset. However, you can only see two before needing to scroll. A more compact design for what Google once called “Your space” would be nice and Google Now card-esque.

Looking at the rest of the bottom bar, I really want to know how many people used “Saved.” I’d use it more if it didn’t feel so clunky given that it is basically a web wrapper. It’s already been de-emphasized on the iOS app. Meanwhile, Notifications suffers from the same implementation problem.

The current Google app on Android feels old and cobbled together. It’s time for a modernization to bring the namesake application inline with everything else.