![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/backdrops-material-3-expressive-hands-on-2-scaled.jpg\"\/ "\\"backdrops")
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Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
Ever since Google announced Material 3 Expressive in May, I\u2019ve been looking forward to getting my hands on Android\u2019s new design language. However, with Android 16 QPR1<\/a> not rolling out until later this year, and Google still in the testing phases of Material 3 Expressive redesigns for its apps, it\u2019s going to be a while before we really feel the impact of Android\u2019s big redesign.<\/p>\n Thankfully, it\u2019s now possible to get a little taste of what it\u2019ll be like. Last week, the folks behind the excellent wallpaper app Backdrops launched their version 6.0 update<\/a>, which includes a new Material 3 Expressive redesign.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the best ways to try Google\u2019s new design language on your phone right now, and after playing with the update myself, I\u2019m more excited than ever for Android\u2019s M3E future.<\/p>\n What it\u2019s like using a Material 3 Expressive app\n<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve used Backdrops before, the app\u2019s core design is basically the same. However, so many aspects of it have been given a proper Material 3 Expressive refresh, and they make the app feel alive and responsive in a way it didn\u2019t previously.<\/p>\n One of the best examples of this is the carousel at the top of the Explore page. As you swipe through it, wallpapers in the carousel are squished and expanded as you slide them in and out of view. The animations are excellent, and it\u2019s wonderfully satisfying to spend a few seconds just swiping through it.<\/p>\n If you refresh the page to check for new wallpapers, the pull-down to refresh gesture now shows a delightful squiggly line animation as the page updates. You only see it for a second or two, but it\u2019s endlessly charming nonetheless.<\/p>\n The new Search page has received similar treatment. You can still browse wallpapers by category, color, and tags like before, but the new, bold icons for everything are just wonderful. The new oversized text is particularly eye-catching, especially for the colors section.<\/p>\n There are also plenty of \u201cexpressive\u201d animation updates, as you\u2019d expect from a Material 3 Expressive redesign. When you tap a wallpaper, it pops into view to take over the screen in a really pleasing way. The Save and Set buttons now slightly morph when you tap them, and if you tap the checkmark next to a Backdrops exclusive wallpaper, it vibrates and spins to register your touch.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, this is the same Backdrops app I\u2019ve used for years. However, little flourishes like the new carousel, refresh animation, and search page go a long way in giving Backdrops a welcoming and playful identity. And after spending some time with this new version of the app, I love it.<\/p>\n What do you think of Backdrops’ Material 3 Expressive redesign?<\/p>\n 44 votes<\/p>\n It looks incredible!<\/p>\n 59%<\/p>\n I think it’s fine.<\/p>\n 32%<\/p>\n I hate it.<\/p>\n 5%<\/p>\n Other (let us know in the comments).<\/p>\n 5%<\/p>\n A nice glimpse at what\u2019s to come<\/p>\n Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n Stepping back a bit, if this is the future of Android apps we\u2019re headed toward, it\u2019s a future I\u2019m looking forward to \u2014 one where our apps are familiar and work how we expect them, just with more character and charm than they had before.<\/p>\n That\u2019s ultimately what we\u2019ve seen from early looks at Material 3 Expressive redesigns of apps like Google Docs<\/a> and Google Keep<\/a>, but to see it fully formed and in action with a third-party app like Backdrops is exciting.<\/p>\n It\u2019ll still be a while before every app on your phone receives the Material 3 Expressive treatment, but having seen what it looks like on Backdrops, I can\u2019t wait for that day to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Maring \/ Android Authority Ever since Google announced Material 3 Expressive in May, I\u2019ve been looking forward…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[6885,15759,2306,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-24950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-android-apps","9":"tag-material-3-expressive","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/backdrops-material-3-expressive-hands-on-1-scaled.jpg\"\/ "\\"backdrops")
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