Material 3 Expressive’s approach to dynamic app color is sounding better and better
Android 16's new look will introduce eye-popping colors without waiting for devs.
- Material 3 Expressive is coming later this year to refresh Android’s look.
- Google’s already been previewing those changes through announcements at I/O 2025, as well as its Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1.
- When Material 3 Expressive finally rolls out, existing apps using dynamic color theming will automatically be able to use the enhanced palettes.
Google’s latest Material 3 Expressive design language is coming to give your Android device a fresh new look, and with the release of Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, users are already getting an early taste of those big changes. Even if you’re not ready to test out that in-development release, though, there’s still plenty to check out, and we’ve already seen lots of previews of what to expect as apps start responding to Google’s changes. This week at I/O 2025, we’re learning a bit more about how this colorful upgrade is coming to our phones.
So far, a lot of the big components of Material 3 Expressive’s changes have felt centered around shape and layout: how UI elements are formed, and where they’re placed across apps and the system itself. But we’re also due some enhancements when it comes to color, and Android’s support for dynamic theming is getting bolder when it comes to its color choices, selecting vibrant tones that still complement each other, but also stand out a bit more.
