The leaked Android redesign looks great, but it won’t matter for millions

Material 3 Expressive brings a much-needed facelift to Android devices

With a combination of the official Google blog post and a bevvy of leaks that have appeared online, we now know what to expect from the Android overhaul.

The biggest change is the return of app icon shape customisation, which was removed with the launch of Android 12. With the new update, you’ll be able to choose from six different icon shapes including the standard circle alongside square, ‘four-sided cookie’ and other shapes. 

There’s also a redesigned Settings app aimed at improving overall navigation and visual clarity. The reintroduction of coloured icons, redesigned toggles, tweaked headers, and more should not only pack more information onto the page at once but also make the sometimes overwhelming Settings app easier to navigate.

There’s also a refreshed status bar, with changes to the Wi-Fi signal icon, battery icon, and even the text and spacing. It’s not a complete overhaul, but in leaked screenshots, it looks cleaner and more manageable.

Changes are also headed to the notification shade, with a split notification and quick control panels similar to iOS and third-party Android skins like MagicOS and HyperOS. Smaller elements, like the volume slider, will also look slightly different to match the new Expressive design language.

Other non-UI updates include the ability to stack widgets, get notification summaries, add widgets to your lock screen, programmable power key functions and more. 

These aren’t new in any shape or form – it’s more Google playing catch-up with not only Apple but third-party Android skins – but it’s great to see them appear on the stock Android operating system in the near future. 

The problem? It won’t matter for millions of Android users

Here’s the kicker: millions of Android users won’t see these shiny new upgrades. Why? Simply put, only a small handful of manufacturers offer stock Android on their smartphones. 

You’ll certainly be getting it on recent iterations of Google’s Pixel range, and it will almost certainly make it to future Motorola phones that run near-stock Android. However, if you’re rocking a Samsung, Honor, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo or any other phone that doesn’t run stock Android, you’re sadly out of luck. 

Samsung utilises its own spin on Android dubbed OneUI, and it’s pretty far from the stock Android experience. Samsung has customised most elements of the UI to make its phones look more unique, as well as bake in Samsung-exclusive features not available on stock Android. 

It’s a similar story with Honor’s MagicOS, Xiaomi’s HyperOS, OnePlus’ OxygenOS, Oppo’s ColorOS and most other third-party skins – and that means they won’t rush to implement stock Android design changes on upcoming releases.

That’s not to say they won’t be present in some shape or form. Some manufacturers could bake some aspects of Google’s Material 3 Expressive design language into their upcoming releases. Still, you likely won’t get the complete package unless you’re a Pixel or Motorola user.

It’s the main reason Android updates aren’t as exciting as iOS alternatives; where iOS updates come to all supported iPhones on the same day, and run the same software (for the most part), the Android software experience is fractured. 

Not only is the software rollout much slower, with some phones like the Galaxy S24 only just getting Android 15 despite rolling out last August, but the look and feel of the software can vary massively between manufacturers.

Still, it’s exciting to see a refreshed UI coming to Pixels sometime soon as, compared to third-party skins, it was starting to look a little dated. And, with rumours of a June launch swirling, we might not have long to try it out for ourselves – some of us, anyway.