{"id":29880,"date":"2025-09-19T00:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/29880\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T00:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:31:09","slug":"material-3-expressive-is-great-but-google-needs-to-focus-on-features-and-device-compatibility-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/29880\/","title":{"rendered":"Material 3 Expressive is great, but Google needs to focus on features and device compatibility next"},"content":{"rendered":"

Material 3 Expressive is here, and it’s my favorite Android update ever<\/a>. Google managed to marry function and form in a revamped UI that subtly improved nearly every part of the Android experience. <\/p>\n

Google has gone into great detail about the development of Material 3 Expressive.<\/p>\n

Phrases like “emotionally impactful UX” and “styles that connect emotionally with their users” from Google’s update announcement<\/a> carry more weight than most of its blog posts, as I can instantly feel the emotional satisfaction of using the update.<\/p>\n

However, Material 3 Expressive won’t last. Progress is everything; statements like “the biggest update in years” are meaningless when said by Google.<\/p>\n

We know that the next redesign will be touted as a huge step forward, but for once, Google, leave Material 3 Expressive alone. There’s so much more it can do without upending the user experience.<\/p>\n

It’s time for Google to make practical improvements<\/p>\n

Google should dial in on features now<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Part of why I was so excited about Material 3 Expressive is that it is the antithesis of the AI slop Google has shoved onto our phones. I was exhausted by features that made no meaningful improvements to the Android experience.<\/p>\n

Material 3 Expressive is the first update in years that has changed my experience with Android for the better. Now I want Google to start delving into improving the features of Android.<\/p>\n

Android 16 introduced small quality-of-life features that improved or fixed various pain points the AP team had with Android. It’s a great update, but I think Google needs to double down on these efforts.<\/p>\n

Widget stacks, more font options, a core Android\/PC syncing app, the full release of themed icons (yes, they’re still in beta), a revamped Play Store, widgets on the lock screen, and more.<\/p>\n

These are all features we at AP have wished for Android, but I don’t actually want Google to introduce them all.<\/p>\n

What I want is the same attention to detail and care that Google put into Material 3 Expressive.<\/p>\n

In its blog posts, Google talks about how it ensured the redesign would improve the user experience through extensive user research. Where’s that attention to detail for the rest of Android?<\/p>\n

Ticking off all the items on my Android wishlist would be wonderful, but this is a fantasy.<\/p>\n

What is realistic is expecting Google to approach each element of Android with the same care and attention. But if there’s one thing I care about more than UI or features, it’s device compatibility.<\/p>\n

Improve communication between Android devices from different OEMs<\/p>\n

Let us build the Android ecosystem of our dreams<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Android’s open source ecosystem is its Achilles’ heel. While Android users are lucky to have an enormous range of devices to choose from, the implied cross-compatibility is nowhere near as strong as it seems.<\/p>\n

I’ve stuck with the Pixel ecosystem for years, not because I think Pixel devices are the best, but because I don’t need to worry about compatibility issues. I’m not talking about proprietary apps like Pixel Recorder or Good Lock, but basic features that should be universal across every Android device.<\/p>\n

For example, it’s time for an overhaul of how call logs and messages are backed up and transferred between different Android phones.<\/p>\n

Switching between Android phones is a process filled with exceptions and unreliable tools; it needs a revamp.<\/p>\n

Notification settings also need to be redone when you switch phones, which is annoying when you’ve spent a while finetuning Android’s excellent notification channels.<\/p>\n

I also appreciate the way Google is incorporating Material 3 Expressive into Wear OS, but the update won’t make me use my smartwatch more.<\/p>\n

I’m tired of how Wear OS devices restrict features if you don’t use them with a phone from the same ecosystem. I’m not expecting a perfect match, but come on, let’s at least sync Do Not Disturb settings.<\/p>\n

Google needs to raise the bar for what should be universal across every Android device.<\/p>\n

Switching to a new device should involve a careful weighing up of what exclusive features it offers, not hours of research into which Android settings won’t sync.<\/p>\n

Material 3 Expressive is an example of great development from Google<\/p>\n

But can it keep up the effort?<\/p>\n

What impresses me most about Material 3 Expressive<\/a> is that I didn’t have to rethink how I used my Android phone. I do the same things I always did, but it’s more satisfying, easier to do, and more fun.<\/p>\n

It’s the opposite approach to how Google forces Gemini on us. Every time a new Gemini feature drops on my phone, I have to rack my brain to figure out how to use it. Here, Google isn’t solving problems; it’s creating new ones.<\/p>\n

If Google can approach Android 17 in the same way it did with Material 3 Expressive, we could enter another golden age of Android. I’m begging you, Google, listen to your users; Material 3 Expressive proves it works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Material 3 Expressive is here, and it’s my favorite Android update ever. Google managed to marry function and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,80],"class_list":["post-29880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}