When Google released the fourth beta of
Android 16 this month, many users were disappointed by the lack of major UI changes. As Beta 4 is the final beta, it’s likely the stable Android 16 release won’t look much different than last year’s release. However, that might not hold true for subsequent updates. Google recently confirmed it will unveil a new version of its Material Design theme at its upcoming developer conference, and we’ve already caught glimpses of these design changes in Android—including a notable increase in background blur effects. Ahead of I/O next month, here’s an early look at Google’s upcoming Android redesign.Before we begin, a word of caution: What we’re about to show you are hidden design changes found in Android 16 Beta 4. None of these are enabled by default in Beta 4, and we don’t know for certain when Google will activate them. While it’s highly likely we won’t see this full redesign in the stable release of Android 16, parts or all of it could appear in a future quarterly update. We’ll hopefully get more clarity next month during The Android Show or Google I/O 2025, where the company plans to unveil its new, more “expressive” version of Material Design, dubbed Material 3 Expressive.
New status bar icons and clock font
One of the more obvious visual differences appears in the status bar, where Google has tweaked the icons for Wi-Fi, mobile data, airplane mode, and battery level. The Wi-Fi and mobile data icons are now segmented, while the 5G and airplane mode icons are much bolder. Android’s new battery icon is also more colorful, sporting a green background when the device is charging and turning red when the battery is low.
New design for the combined notifications and Quick Settings panel
Last year, we reported that Google was preparing a major overhaul of the notifications and Quick Settings area. As part of this redesign, Google planned to split the notifications and Quick Settings panels into separate pages. This split design aimed to create more space for both notifications and tiles but represented a dramatic departure from the current combined layout.
While Google is still refining this split design and might offer it as an option later, the company currently seems to be moving forward with a different approach for the main interface. This newer design keeps the Quick Settings and notifications panel combined but retains many quality-of-life improvements developed alongside the split concept. These include resizable Quick Settings tiles, new one-click toggles for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a more organized tile editor, and one-click shortcuts for adding or removing tiles. It also introduces a redesigned brightness slider, downward-facing arrows (instead of rightward) for expandable tiles, and the new segmented Wi-Fi icon mentioned earlier, but the overall layout remains familiar.
Although the basic layout is similar, the look and feel change dramatically. Instead of a solid black background, the panel now displays a blurred version of the content underneath. The blur effect is less intense beneath the Quick Settings tiles compared to the notification area; this helps ensure notifications remain readable even with some transparency applied. When light mode is enabled, the background takes on a frosted glass appearance. In dark mode, the background and toggles shift to a darker gray, with transparency applied to both.
What this new design potentially sacrifices in contrast and immediate readability, it arguably gains in aesthetics. In my opinion, background blur is a feature long overdue in stock Android. Other Android-based operating systems, like Xiaomi’s HyperOS, have used background blur extensively for some time, but Google has largely avoided it until now. I personally find the revamped combined panel quite sleek and am curious to see if or how Google might apply similar blur effects should the split panel design resurface as an option.
Blur, blur, and more blur
The Quick Settings panel isn’t the only place Google is applying a blur effect. A blurred background also appears in the Pixel Launcher’s app drawer, the recents menu (multitasking view), and the PIN entry screen. Currently, these areas use a solid light or dark gray background depending on the system theme (light or dark mode).
A cleaner, more compact lock screen
Google is preparing to change the lock screen layout in a subtle but meaningful way. In the new Pixel lock screen layout we spotted recently, Google moves the date and weather information either below or beside the clock, relocating the contextual information complication elsewhere. Specifically, the date and weather appear below the clock when it’s centered, and to the clock’s right when it’s positioned at the top. Meanwhile, the contextual information complication now sits at the top when no notifications are present, shifting below the clock when notifications appear. This separation results in a cleaner overall look.
Complementing this layout change is a new compact notification shelf. This optional setting collapses notifications on the lock screen. Instead of showing the full notification preview, only the app’s icon appears in a small, slightly transparent chip located below the contextual information complication (ensuring it doesn’t obstruct the wallpaper). Tapping this chip expands the notification shade, revealing all pending notifications. This compact view isn’t enabled by default but can be turned on under Settings > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen.
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