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Slack's revamped UI feels like a step in the wrong direction
Adding more clicks to do the same tasks is a great way to make people upset
Back in August, Slack announced it would introduce a new user interface to increase focus and productivity. Those changes started showing up earlier this month: buttons moved around, colors changed, and — perhaps most egregious of all — the workspaces consolidated into one icon. To say that some users are not happy about these changes would be a bit of an understatement.
When you're thinking about updating your Android apps, you don't have to look any further than the Google Play Store. The Store has seen its fair share of revisions as Android evolved over the years, like adopting the Material You design, and a complete redesign of the UI on Android tablets and Chromebooks. Now the Play Store app is picking up a subtle update to an update, if you will, with a visual tweak in the appearance of the app update button.
Google Keep is great, and if you disagree, you're wrong. At this point I'm torn between my love for this basic but incredibly handy note-taking utility, and my terror that Google will yank it away in favor of refocusing on Tasks and making me update it solely via Assistant. I'm getting a little less nervous after seeing a new Keep feature pop up: background images!
About a month ago users on the Chromium repository led a very polite revolt against tab groups in Chrome for Android, declaring that they much preferred the option to simply open a selected link in a new tab directly. A little yellow bird told us that Google has listened to those users, and "Open in new tab" is coming back.
It seems like every new update to Android 12's early builds brings along some changes to the settings menu. Developer Preview 2 brought along an all-new look sans subtitles, which Google brought back in Beta 2. With Beta 3 out now, it seems like we're due for another update. While the subtitles have remained, all of the color in the settings menu has been drained, leaving behind a stark black-and-white appearance.
Chrome for Android starts showing most-visited site tiles in the Omnibox
Curb your enthusiasm: it looks like another server-side switch
If you're anything like most web users, you have a core dozen or so sites that you visit regularly (including Android Police, right? Right?), while the rest you only peruse when it's pertinent. Chrome for Android is starting to recognize this, and give you more visible suggestions for your most-visited sites via new icons in the Omnibox.
Google Photos has a new way to show who's looking at your pictures
It's a central hub for all the photos you've shared, or others have shared with you
Google has been pushing a lot more functionality into Photos as of late, even after it sunset its most popular feature by far. Check your app today: if the odds are in your favor, you might see a new entry on the bottom navigation bar. Don't get too excited though, it's just a direct link to some of the app's less obvious social features.
Android 12 Beta 2 brings back info-dense subtitles to the settings menu
Without abandoning its new look
Android 12 Beta 2 is chock full of visual changes, including the full implementation of its color-matching theme system. It's also changing some of the less popular additions from previous iterations of Android 12, including adding information density back to its settings menu.
Big changes are coming to Chrome's settings menu
Changes in Canary indicate it should be a lot easier to use soon
Do you sometimes find it hard to locate a specific setting in the Chrome browser's ever-expanding Settings menu? You're not alone. The developers of Chromium feel your pain, and they're doing something about it. A redesigned, more compartmentalized Settings menu was spotted in the Chromium.org developer discussion, coming soon to a browser (or lightweight operating system) near you.
Android 12's settings redesign is prettier but less useful
Cherish this subtitle, because the Settings menu doesn't have any left
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In Google's brand-new Developer Preview 3 release of Android 12, the Settings menu looks a little different. Compared to both Android 11 and A12 DP2, the updated version is prettier and less dense, but does away with the subheadings to make it a little less clear where various options are. It also gets some new "bouncy" animations when scrolling. It's the new look for the Settings menu, previously hidden behind an ADB command and labelled "silky home."
Here's how to use the new Google Play Store interface that's arriving now
Say goodbye to the hamburger menu
If you take a look at the Google Play Store on your phone today, you may notice things have shifted around a bit. A new version of the interface has been appearing for a small number of users over the last week or so, but seems to rolling out more quickly now. This slight shift to the UI gets rid of the familiar hamburger menu (the three horizontal bars that used to be on the left of the search bar at the top), and instead has you tapping on your Google profile icon to get to more of the non-obvious elements of the Store.
Samsung's Penup drawing app gets a refreshed UI with layer support
it's also easier to find coloring book pages
Users of Samsung Galaxy Note devices (or any Android device, since it's available on the Play Store for any phone) should be seeing a new version of the Penup app now. The refreshed sketch app is mostly the same as it was before, but it now has support for multiple layers, a welcome pro move for a drawing app with a surprisingly active community.
Amazon app picks up new UI with bottom bar navigation and better Whole Foods integration
It appears to be a server-side change, so you may not see it right away
If you rely on Amazon's dedicated shopping app to peruse the digital aisles, you might have noticed a change recently. The dedicated Android app for Amazon's storefront is seeing some significant tweaks, most notably a new general navigation bar on the bottom of the screen. The updated interface doesn't seem to be tied to a specific version of the app (we tried one on multiple phones), so this may be a server-side switch.
Upcoming Chrome test releases will have easy access to an Experiments menu
The feature was previously called Labs; tab scrolling, tab search, and a reading list are the first features highlighted in the menu
Google tries out a lot of tweaks on its early Chrome browser and Chrome OS builds, though most of it isn't immediately user-facing. In the Chrome 91 build some of those changes will be more obvious thanks to the Experiments menu, previously called Labs. You can find it by clicking the beaker icon that's now next to your user icon in the menu bar, and it's now enabled by default on Canary.
[Update: Now official] Google rolls out new Material Play Store interface with bottom navigation bar
Last month we reported the Play Store was about to get a design overhaul, including a new navigation bar that moved to the bottom of the screen. Although this could only be activated by fiddling with feature flags when we published our initial post, Google is now widely rolling out the new interface to users.
Dark mode has become one of the most requested features nowadays, and it only makes sense a growing number of companies are designing their apps accordingly. Following in the footsteps of Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, LinkedIn is reportedly working on a dark theme for its app.
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IFTTT is one of my favorite services around, and what's great about it is that once you've set up everything, you even forget it exists. For instance, I'm a big Wunderlist fan, and I don't want to switch to another provider to manage my to-do lists. Thanks to IFTTT, I've connected it to my Google Assistant so that my smart speaker can add my grocery items directly into my list. In fact, IFTTT is so transparent that you rarely need to use the app, unless you're setting up a new applet or checking your activity log. Nevertheless, the company isn't neglecting its users and is working on completely revamping its Android app with an interface that looks much smoother, but that's also a lot less functional.
Following recent confidentiality scandals, the social media giant just announced plans for a new "privacy-focused platform." In parallel, it also appears to be working on a new all-white user interface for Android. Although the two don't seem to be related, it's quite intriguing the company is designing a colorless app amid privacy-related concerns.
Developing for both Android and iOS usually involves working with two codebases, two UI frameworks, and two different design languages. There have been many projects over the years to remedy this problem, but they usually result in apps that don't work well or don't look native. Google unveiled its 'Flutter' framework at the 2015 Dart developer summit, allowing developers to quickly create native iOS and Android apps.
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According to an email being sent to G Suite administrators, an Early Adopter Program will be available to Gmail users "in the coming weeks" that introduces a "fresh, clean look" for the service's web interface. The program is also set to bring new features like the ability to "snooze" emails to reappear in your inbox later, the way you can in Gmail's more experimental email client, Inbox.