This is the new design that will make the system much more to those of Apple and Xiaomi

Although Android 16 will be very similar to Android 15, the story can be very different with a future update, which will premiere a complete redesign of the interfacewith changes that will cause controversy. We say goodbye to flat colors, and hello again to blur and classic icons.

From Android 12, Google bases the design of Android and all its applications in you material, the evolution of Material Design focused on offering a greater customization capacity to the user. Since then, the changes that the interface has received have been numerous but minimal, adjusting small parts instead of reinventing the wheel. Everything indicated that Android 16 design would not be an exception, with small changes in elements such as volume bars.

However, Google already advanced that in the next Google I/or was going to present A new version of Material Designcalled “Expressive” and everything indicates that Android 16 can adopt at least some of the changes. In Android Authority They have been able to activate the new Android interface in Beta 4 of Android 16, and although some parts of the system remain the same, others have changed completely. If it is for better or for worse, it will be a matter of taste and opinion of each user, but what is undeniable is that Google is looking at the competition.

With Material 3 Expressive, Google changes some of the basic elements of the interface, starting with state icons. In the current version of Android, these icons have their own design that we do not usually see in other brands, especially in elements such as the Wi -Fi coverage icon. The new Android 16 icons, on the other hand, are more typical, adopting the classic three -part Wi -Fi icon that are lit or turned off to indicate the coverage level.

The good thing is that Google has given priority to readability rather than style, with icons that show more information and more clearly. For example, the battery icon is now horizontal and shows the load level in number; In addition, when we recharge the mobile, now the battery icon will change green, something that Google had avoided in the system icons.

The panel of notifications and rapid adjustments is the one that has suffered the most changes, at least for now. And Google has decided to abandon the style with solid background and rectangular buttons that until now has characterized mobiles with standard android, such as the Pixel. That means that The blur effects returnwhich became fashionable a few years ago and that have returned to the personalization systems and layers of most manufacturers.

In this way, when sliding down to open the notifications and the quick settings panel, it will now be shown On the wallpaper with a blurred effect. Interestingly, this effect is stronger in the notifications menu, perhaps to help the readability of the text, while the background is better appreciated in the settings. In addition, in this way both menus are more distinguishable than in the current version.

The blur effect will be the great protagonist of Android from now on, judging by the novelties of this beta version. Virtually all parts of the interface have received some blurred part, such as the recent menu or the applications menu, which instead of showing a white background (or black in dark mode), now shows the wallpaper with the blurred effect. Xiaomi mobile users will be a very familiar effect, because Hyperos has adopted blur as few; However, nobody escapes that these changes They make Android look more like iOSperhaps in an attempt to attract users of the Apple system.

In the same way, the lock screen now shows A blurred effect when introducing the pin. The design of the lock screen has changed, with new typefaces and a somewhat different disposition of elements such as time information, which now appears under the clock when notifications are not shown.

Other changes were already expected, such as the aforementioned new volume bars, whose new design extends to all types of bars that appear in the interface. Likewise, the configuration app will receive a new design, with better differentiated and grouped elements, instead of the current design that shows all options at the same level. A curious novelty is found in The shape of the icons, which is now customizable; We can finally choose between round, square, or strange shapes such as star or door.

It is not clear when all these news will arrive. Although they are present at the Beta 4 of Android 16, that does not necessarily mean that they will arrive with the final version of the system, whose launch is expected for the beginning of summer. Google may make a progressive launch, launching new parts with future Android 16 updates.