First look at Android’s slick new animations for its big expressive redesign
Google is adding several new animations to Android to make it more expressive
- Google is adding expressive new animations to Android for interactions like dismissing notifications and toggling settings.
- Physics-based notification dismissals, shape-shifting Quick Setting tiles, and a power button ‘squeeze’ effect are incoming.
- A waveform appears on the volume slider during playback, and the lock screen clock gets a new tap animation.
Google is creating some expressive new animations to make Android feel more lively during interactions like swiping away notifications or pressing and holding the power button. These animations are part of a broader update to Google’s design language, which involves major changes to Android’s UI aimed at making it more expressive. While Google is set to release Android 16 in just over a month, this update won’t include the big UI overhaul we recently documented — that’s coming later. For now, here’s an early look at Android’s expressive new animations.
Expressive animations for dismissing notifications and recent tasks
Currently, when you swipe to dismiss a notification, it glides smoothly with your finger, almost frictionlessly. Soon, however, this animation will gain some ‘weight’. Google is adding physics-based animations for notification dismissals, meaning notifications will bounce and snap back into place if you partially swipe and let go. They’ll also carry momentum from your flings when you fully dismiss them. Here’s a video comparing the new notification dismissal animation to the old one from Android 15:
