Google's Latest Pixel Drop Brings the Material 3 Expressive UI To Older Devices

Google's September Pixel drop brings the new Material 3 Expressive UI, AI-powered Gboard writing tools, and Bluetooth Auracast upgrades to older Pixel devices, including the Pixel 6 and Pixel Tablet. "Among other tweaks, Google made it possible to add 'Live Effects,' including a few that cover the weather, to your phone's lock screen wallpaper," notes Engadget. "Material 3 Expressive also gives you more control over how the contact cards your phone displays when your friends and family call you look. Even if you're not one to endlessly tweak Android's appearance, as part of the redesign Google has once again reworked the Quick Settings pane in hopes of making it easier to use."

On the audio front, Pixel Buds Pro 2 gain intuitive nod-and-shake gesture controls, Adaptive Audio for balanced awareness, and Loud Noise Protection to guard against sudden sound spikes. Voice clarity has also been improved with Gemini Live in noisy environments.

A full breakdown of what's new can be found here.

Pixel Drop?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are we supposed to know what a Pixel Drop is?

Re:

[ejr]

I have a Pixel phone. On Google Fi. I don't see any reason to care.

Re:

[chmod a+x mojo]

I care because the last update to my pixel 7 and Google Fi completely FUCKED the contacts pane in the phone app. It no longer shows a list of all your contacts on the phone app "home" screen, just recent calls. Nor does the CONTACTS TAB show you all of your contacts, only contacts with a recent call / text history.

Nope, right under the fucking tabs is a small "view contacts" button oh so conveniently placed that you can fat finger hit the tabs buttons when going for it. So convenient, why would you want to

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

Millennials like to say "drop" to mean "release".

"Taylor Perry dropped a new album."

Even Zoomers find it tiresome.

Re:

[OrangeTide]

I'm of the older generation that uses "drop" mainly for toilet humor.

Re:

[cascadingstylesheet]

Millennials like to say "drop" to mean "release".

"Taylor Perry dropped a new album."

Even Zoomers find it tiresome.

Always sounds like "droppings" to me. You know, something you drop.

Not very good for marketing ...

Re:

[Mr. Dollar Ton]

It is similar to a normal drop, but made from larger pixels.

Kinda like this one: https://cdn3.vectorstock.com/i... [vectorstock.com]

Re:

[arglebargle_xiv]

It's like a mike drop but you drop your phone instead.

Re:

[nospam007]

Made me remember the Thursday murder club, when Helen Mirren showed a PDF on her phone to the policeman.

She, showing the PDF: "Do know that this is?"

He: "A Very old phone?"

Re:

[Sloppy]

It just means that your phone can run on a DigitalOcean VM.

All working together

[hadleyburg]

Little UI customisation features aren't particularly important to me.

I'm interested in whether you can have a nicely working together experience using Google stuff (phone + tablet), in the way that Apple offers (iPhone + iPad).

A not particularly computer literate family member has expressed preference for the Google Photos app over Apple Photos, and uses GMail for email, so is wondering whether to switch from iPhone/iPad to whatever is the Google equivalent.

Auracast?

[bill_mcgonigle]

I had to look this up. It actually seems pretty nifty:

https://www.techradar.com/feat... [techradar.com]

(yes, Bob, we know you don't have these use cases)

Re:

[rta]

It's been fascinating (to me) just how slow Bluetooth LE audio adoption has been. It was finalized 3 years ago in BT 5.2 and even today the large majority of headphones don't support any of it. Not LC3 codec, not the multipoint (easier true wireless earbuds) , not the auracast. Even in devices that are BT 5.2, 5.3, 5.4

There is SOME support ... but it's been long in coming.

(note "LC3" is mentioned only three times on this page and once is in the FAQ https://www.rtings.com/headpho... [rtings.com] 6 months ago i thin

Re:

[Lanforod]

Now if only the endpoint devices would hurry up on enabling support for Auracast. Sigh.... really need more critical mass. I thought the hearing aid/cochlear implant companies would be all over pushing this but they're dragging their feet.

Yay! My phone stays the same!

[kbrannen]

I have a Pixel 4a, so yay I'm not affected and my UI stays the same; I don't get that Materials 3 crap. How about we stop with all of the meaningless UI changes, whether phone, browser, app, whatever. Pointless changes just to be changing something to show the UI people are still alive.

Re:

[caseih]

Yes but pastel colors! Surely you want those. That and low-contrast text.

Not low contrast enough

[OrangeTide]

Black text on a slightly different black background is the theme that metalhead demand.

Re:

[martin_dk]

My Pixel 7 is now updated with this new Material 3.

The colors of the circles in the Phone recent on the dark grey background is a huge no go and looks horrendous.

The stock apps are not consistent regarding having a "Save" button or immediate editing. Good luck changing settings for an alarm the way you used to.

Button placements with no padding looks ridiculous.

When I receive a call, the spinning icon looks like a weak version of some discount sticker in a supermarket.

Nice job, Google.

Re:

[arglebargle_xiv]

I have no idea what Material 3 UI is but when I saw the headline I thought "I bet it looks like complete crap". And, sure enough...

Re:

[itsme1234]

How about we stop with all of the meaningless UI changes, whether phone, browser, app, whatever. Pointless changes just to be changing something to show the UI people are still alive.

THIS. I've seen the post yesterday, checked if there is some update, then go it overnight. OMFG!!!! What's the point to tweak the shape of boxes, fonts, and so on?! The only real result is that for a week or a month or so everything will be "different". Random stuff pulling at your attention for no good reason.

Re:

[Sloppy]

I'm not affected

Maybe, maybe not. The announcement says Pixel 6 and up, but my wife's 3a (!) got it a few days ago.

I dropped my Pixel

[thegarbz]

and all I got was a lousy cracked screen. Did I drop it wrong? Or does this only work if a Google employee drops my phone?

Translation

[redback]

We changed how everything looks and works just to justify our own jobs.

Drop??

[keithyv65]

Whatâ(TM)s wrong with âReleaseâ(TM) FFS??

Would you pay $ for this feature?

[Somervillain]

I can't remember the last time a modern UI change actually improved my life. The best you can say is that the pointless changes add variety, but I guarantee no users care enough that they'd pay money for them. Do you know anyone who would pay $5 for "Liquid Glass" or "Material 3 Expressive UI?" For awhile, OS updates made our lives better...even UI ones...now they're just undoing past changes or making extremely subtle and pointless ones...then hyping them up as some sort of innovation.

The worst is th