At Google I/O 2021, we witnessed the biggest shakeup to Google's design language in years in the form of Material You. While it's all about personalization, rounded corners and bigger headers are also a part of the deal. We're now seeing evidence that this design philosophy will soon extend to Google's apps.

Tipster @damned_im managed to enable the new interface in Google Photos v5.43, and the folks over at XDA Developers corroborated this. The new UI introduces bigger headers and an overflow menu (⋮) that offers a select button and the option to open Map view for media with GPS information.

Left: Old interface.  Center & right: New interface (Credit: XDA Developers)

It also shows Trip & Best of Month memories right within the photo grid. However, this isn't new — it started rolling out last month.

The new design, which seems to take inspiration from Material You, won't be exclusive to Android 12. But when the new version of the OS rolls out in the fall, we could see Photos and other Google apps get theming options based on your phone's wallpaper or chosen colors just as we're already seeing with Gboard.

It's unclear when these UI changes will roll out. We'll make sure to update the article if we spot it in the wild.