Google Messages Could Soon Dial Back Its Material You Themes
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Summary
- Google Messages is testing UI changes with a more muted, less colorful look.
- Changes may include rounded elements like corners in chats and pill-shaped labels in menus.
- Themes may incorporate less saturated colors.
Google Messages is getting a bit of a facelift, but one particular change might be divisive. In an APK teardown, Android Authority has found evidence that an upcoming version of Google’s stock messaging app will see a handful of UI tweaks, including a conspicuous lack of color.
According to Android Authority, code in the Google Messages v20250408 beta makes a number of changes to the way Google Messages looks. The most obvious change is that the new look is a little less colorful, with chat backgrounds rendered in more muted hues. The attachment menu where you can add photos, files, stickers, and more to your messages is fully monochrome, in a pretty drastic shift from the multi-colored interface that’s there now.
Several UI elements sport a more rounded appearance. Chats now have rounded corners at the top, and the tab labels and search bars within the emoji menu are all pill-shaped.
Old, new, old, new. Source: AssembleDebug/Android Authority
This look could be coming soon
Personally, I like all the in-progress changes other than the less colorful themes. This new, less colorful look isn’t public-facing yet, but the code that enables it is present in Google Messages v20250408 beta. Given it hasn’t been released, it’s still possible that this updated look could change before it lands on our phones, or even be scrapped entirely and never released.
