Imagine a more personal version of the Google tools you use regularly. A way to tweak them, so they match your mood, favorite color schemes, and screen layout. Enter Material You, a cutting-edge design language that provides a more intuitive, fluid, and customized user experience.
Already integrated into most of Google's major apps, Material You is now making the leap to Docs, Slides, and Sheets, so regular users have more control over how they use and interact with the apps, adjusting the platforms to their individual needs and preferences.
What is Material You?
Material You was launched in 2021 as a human-centric form of design that's not just simple and easy to use but also more personal and accessible.
Intended as a move away from pure function to something more instinctive, Material You offers innovative design features such as color palettes tailored to your mood, User Interfaces that respond to screen changes, and seamless transitions across devices. It was first rolled out to Google Pixel phones in the fall of 2021, with the ultimate aim of adopting it across all Google products and platforms.
Over the past year, several apps have adopted the Material You design, also known as Material 3, and Google is now ramping up the rollout with versions for Docs, Sheets, and Slides on Android. These platforms are the first to use the newly redesigned Material You toggle.
How to enable Material You toggles
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides will now feature a pill-shaped toggle button that's wider, more compact, and more accessible than previous versions. Colors, layouts, and icons will refresh with new color mappings, the ability to select an icon in the switch thumb and taller and wider switch tracks.
In all three apps, toggles can be accessed from the editor's overflow menu for Print layout, Suggested changes, Available offline, and Star.
The changes to these platforms may be minor for now. Still, Google remains committed to fully adopting Material Design across the entire Google ecosystem as part of the company's drive to make their tools and technology, in general, more accessible and inclusive.
Delivering the keynote address at last year's Google I/O, VP of Design Matias Duarte said this approach marks a major progression for design, adding: "[Material You is] A new design that includes you as a co-creator, letting you transform the look and feel of all your apps by generating personal Material palettes that mix color science with a designer's eye and engineering UI elements to respond in real-time.
"A new design that can flex to every screen and fit every device. A new design that never compromises on accessibility, granting transformative control of contrast, size, and even line width. No longer defaulting to one-size-fits-all, Material You is a radical new way to think about design."
A Google-certified premier partner, UpCurve Cloud specializes in helping companies make the most of their Google toolkit or, if they're new to the Google ecosystem, making the switch seamlessly and efficiently. Our team of expert consultants, engineers, and technicians can guide businesses through integration and deployment of any Google application. Get in touch today to get started!
Contact Us to Learn More about Transforming Your Business