Today we will know about the new update of Android 16, in which Material 3 Expressive design language plays a major role. I recently bought Pixel 9 Pro XL just to experience this new Android 16 Material 3 Expressive Update, and honestly I am quite impressed. As soon as you customize the lockscreen of the phone, first of all a new interface appears which looks much cleaner and modern than the previous version, Android 15. Here you can choose different clock styles, change their color and size, and even customize the layout of notifications. Another new feature is that when you select a wallpaper, you get an Effects option where you can adjust shapes, background colours, and saturation. You can also apply live weather effects like rain, snow, fog, which appears with a small animation as soon as you unlock the phone, it looks pretty cool.
There have been some subtle changes on the home screen as well. The Atlas widget has been made a bit smaller, which gives an extra row for icons and the spacing also looks better. Apps have become more easily accessible. The biggest highlight I liked was the Quick Settings panel. Earlier Pixel UI used to have a solid dark background which honestly felt boring, but now with the blur effect the whole interface feels modern. Blur is used everywhere in Quick Settings, app drawer, and recent apps which I personally liked a lot. Brightness and volume slider are now in square design, and there is a small jiggle animation when you tap the toggles, it becomes rounded when off, square when on. Edit layout has also changed, now you can add toggles by just tapping, and can also customize the shape of individual tiles. The design of the status bar feels a bit like iOS, but overall it matches with the look of Pixel so there is no problem.
Visual changes can also be seen in other places like the app drawer layout, the icons pop more due to the blur. The drawer now opens in a window-style instead of full screen, which feels minimalist and clean. The Settings page gets colourful icons and a small X symbol appears when the toggle is turned off, which is a subtle but useful touch. Animations also feel quite interactive. Although the app open-close transitions donโt feel as smooth as Chinese skins since Pixel UI doesnโt have parallel animations, wherever animations are used, like toggles, sliders, widgets, there is a playful jiggle effect which is fun to use.
Overall, Android 16 Material 3 Expressive Update is a pretty solid update. Google has paid attention to both design and customization and has made the Pixel UI even more engaging. This update was so impressive for me that I am now planning to use Pixel 9 Pro XL as my primary phone. If you are a Pixel user or an Android lover, this update is definitely worth trying. What do you think? Please share your feedback in the comments and if you liked this review then share it with your friends and always keep an eye on technominda.com.
