The vast majority of Google’s Android apps have switched to a short bottom bar. Google Photos was the big exception, but we now know it’s moving to a floating toolbar, starting on iOS.
This floating toolbar for Photos, Collections, and Create is housed in a pill-shaped container. When you’re viewing a particular tab as noted by another pill indicator, you’ll also see an accompanying icon at the left. A FAB (floating action button) at the right lets you Search or Ask.
The toolbar is persistent and does not auto-hide upon scrolling. It is indeed a lighter component than the bottom bar being replaced. It’s placed high enough on the screen so that you can meaningfully see the images (content) below it.
That being said, this floating toolbar — as currently listed in the Material 3 Expressive guidelines — is not meant to be a navigation component that replaces the bottom bar.
Top comment by Omega192
That being said, this floating toolbar — as currently listed in the Material 3 Expressive guidelines — is not meant to be a navigation component that replaces the bottom bar.
Rather, it’s meant to house “frequently used actions relevant to the current page.” One Google example shows a floating toolbar on an email page with actions like archive and delete. A correct implementation can be found in Google Photos Albums.
Is it too much to ask that you read the full guidelines before stating things like this and misinforming readers?
The top of the Guidelines tab for the Toolbar component includes an image with the older tabs of Photos, Collections, Library. Under the section titled "Toolbars & navigation bars" it says:
Floating toolbars can be used as tabs between related subsequent pages in the product hierarchy.
This helps group similar pages together, and shows that the selection affects the body content underneath.
...
Consider the existing app hierarchy when using a toolbar for local navigation.
Avoid redundant or confusing navigation combinations in the same view.
This notion that this isn't a "correct implementation" because it's used for one of the several purposes a component this generic is meant for is just plain wrong. When your job entails reporting details accurately there's really no excuse to miss an entire section of the very page you linked to. Please do better.
Rather, it’s meant to house “frequently used actions relevant to the current page.” One Google example shows a floating toolbar on an email page with actions like archive and delete. A correct implementation can be found in Google Photos Albums.
Google has been using it for navigation since its introduction in Google Chat two years ago.
We’re seeing the Google Photos floating toolbar just on iOS (version 7.63) today. Hopefully, we’re also getting updated design guidelines.
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