Android apps keep using Apple’s Liquid Glass design, and it’s killing me

If I wished Liquid Glass, I’d purchase an iPhone. It doesn’t belong on Android. And but, I’m seeing extra and extra of Apple’s design language — or half-baked variations of it — pop up in apps on my Google Pixel.

Android has lengthy been identified for its customization choices. For that motive, I don’t thoughts a number of the third-party launchers which have added Liquid Glass-like design packs. For me, the problem will not be a couple of third-party developer giving the consumer the choice; on the contrary, the problem is when an app developer chooses Apple’s design language over Google’s Materials 3 Expressive because the default, resulting in an expertise that feels international.

Some apps are leaning on Liquid Glass greater than others. The latest and blatant implementation I’ve seen is in common note-taking app Obsidian. This app was lately up to date and the UI screams iOS. The round floating buttons on the prime proper and left of every display, the floating bar on the backside, the dearth of colour — it’s all straight from iOS. To provide credit score the place it’s due, I’ll admit that the app feels native and snappy to make use of, however I’d admire even just a bit effort to make the expertise more healthy for Android.

In Obsidian’s case, even simply a few small modifications would go a great distance. For one, to distinguish from Apple’s design requirements, I’d begin by altering the 2 floating buttons on the prime of the display. Taking some inspiration from Google’s Screenshots app, I’d change the buttons’ form to extra of a squished circle, with a narrower prime and backside and longer sides. I’d additionally take away the shadows from beneath the circle and go away them flat, as you generally see with these buttons on Android.

Google’s design language does a fantastic job at incorporating colours of your alternative all through the UI, and app builders also can reap the benefits of this. With Obsidian, I’d like to see the choice to use my system’s Materials You colour system to the app’s UI. These buttons might use the identical colour theming I see in different apps that correctly implement this, comparable to Gmail and Google Messages. I have a tendency to alter my system’s colour system as soon as a month — normally correlating to a season like summer season or fall or to that month’s largest vacation — and I like seeing these colours all through the apps I exploit. Materials You, when carried out correctly, does a fantastic job using these colours as accents and in the appropriate locations in order that it’s nice and not overwhelming to have a look at.

Telegram is one other massively common app that may’t resolve if it desires to make use of Liquid Glass or one thing else that’s undoubtedly not Materials design. It lately launched an overhauled design of its Android app that, at first look, appears like a watered-down model of the iOS model, however upon deeper inspection, it will get even worse. Private chats nonetheless have Telegram’s previous design on the prime of the display, whereas the highest bar in channels — Telegram’s one-to-many broadcast choice — now seemingly resembles iOS design language.

Telegram is normally a design-forward firm, with stunning animations and a well-designed consumer expertise, and whereas the animations are nonetheless top-notch, this combination of Liquid Glass and different design selections is a bit disappointing to me. If an organization desires to create its personal design system, that’s effective. In that case, you don’t have to make use of Apple or Google’s methods. With Telegram on Android, we’re not seeing both of these choices, however slightly a mixture of the 2. I see components of Liquid Glass and a proprietary design system, combined into one hodgepodge of an app. The app works, however the expertise is distinctly not Android.

As I alluded to, I’m alright with an organization designing its personal UI. This will help an organization keep its model identification uniform throughout all of the platforms it operates on. A great instance of that is Robinhood. You gained’t discover any bits of Liquid Glass or Materials 3 Expressive in its apps, however you will note a constant design system you could rely on from Robinhood, irrespective of the place you’re accessing it from.

Often, creating a customized design system like Robinhood’s requires quite a lot of sources, which is why many builders select to make use of parts offered in a platform’s native tooling. Within the case of Telegram, though it’s not a small developer by any means, it nonetheless selected to make use of some native tooling, nevertheless it’s fully missing in consistency on Android. I really feel like I’m using a wanna-be iPhone app on my Android telephone. In the meantime, its iPhone app was rapidly up to date to stick to Liquid Glass pointers and animations.

I get it, these apps are companies, companies like to save cash the place they will, and using just one design throughout a number of platforms is certainly a cost-cutter. All I’m asking for is a bit more love for the Android aspect. When Google introduced Materials 3 Expressive, it confirmed off some extraordinarily daring concepts for what apps may appear to be with the developed design language. We’re approaching a yr since that announcement, and I don’t see something remotely near what Google showcased, even from Google itself. Materials 3 Expressive has a lot potential, and I actually don’t need it to go to waste.