These New Android Animations Make The OS Feel More Alive

Google is adding some personality to Android with its upcoming “expressive” redesign. We’ve already seen some new design elements sprinkled through Android. Now, we’re seeing some of the new animations, courtesy of Mishaal Rahman at Android Authority.

These new animations will make Android feel more lively, especially with the bouncing animation in notification dismissals and recents.

Notification Dismissals

As Rahman shows in this short video, Notification dismissals also get a nice change here. Where the notification will sort of bounce back into place. Almost like it’s alive. Of course, that would only happen if the notification is not fully dismissed. It also adds a tactile feel to the interaction.

Quick Settings Toggles

The Quick Settings are also getting a nice little change here. Now when you toggle on a Quick Setting, the shape of the toggle changes from an oval to a rounded rectangle. This gives you a nice visual indication of their status.

When this first leaked yesterday, many didn’t like how it looked, since the toggles were different shapes. But keep in mind that this is still early, and things could change as well as get more polished.

Recents get a subtle new animation

The recents menu is also getting a new subtle animation. Now when you go to swipe away an app but don’t complete the swipe, it will bounce back down, and so will the apps beside it. Most people likely won’t even notice this, but it is a pretty cool animation.

Power Button and Volume Slider Enhancements

The power button is getting a new visual enhancement. Now, when you press it for something like bringing up Gemini, you will see a squeeze animation, which will provide immediate visual acknowledgement of pressing the button.

Now, when you adjust the volume during media playback will display a waveform animation on the slider, offering a real-time visual representation of audio changes.​

Lock Screen Clock changes

The ock screen clock will now get a subtle animation when you tap on it, adding a touch of interactivity to the static display. It’s not a huge change, and most people won’t notice it. But like a lot of the other changes mentioned here, this is going to really make the experience more lively.

These changes could come with the first Quarterly Platform Release for Android 16, or wait entirely for Android 17 next year.