this post was submitted on 13 May 2025

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Android

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Google's big Android redesign is official, and it's teeming with expression (www.pocket-lint.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

All I see is more CPU/GPU power being given to irrelevant things that does nothing but make older devices run slower from the excess overhead.

For most, except those with the newest devices, this will be a downgrade unless they change settings to reduce the use of animations. Not sure if there will be an option to disable the blur but I hope so.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I turn off so much crap as it is, and crank all animations down to 0.5 (I'd go lower but this is just fast enough to no have stutter). I don't need iOS-slow animations that "look cool", I got shit to do.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I have a phone from 2019. It runs smooth with Lineage OS on Android 15. I think slowness comes down to vendor junk.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

why would they need to do things that actually matter like privacy and security lol

they got foss chads doing the hard work on that so they can circle jerk rounded edges and square

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't think the UI designers are the people who usually with on security features

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Who make decisions where money is spent?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The designers are already hired and trained, the money is already spent

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And grapheneoss work is being incorporated upstream 🤡

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Probably a big reason they keep the AOSP project open!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

They are actively undermining it now and trying to take everything not nailed down in house tho

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

They need to sell more phones somehow (which is why relying on corporate software is never a good idea. We need a real android alternative)

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Honestly I think it's hideous. Wish they would take this one back to the drawing board. I prefer the sleek and minimalist push they used to have, but now it feels like they're going back in a maximalist direction.

My phone's OS doesn't need to be a theatrical experience with every press or swipe, it just needs to get me from point A to point B as quickly and simply as possible.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I might be wrong, but the Material 3 UI feels a lot closer to iOS.

I agree with you, I'd rather have a crazy snappy phone instead of nice animations and effects, but we are in the minority. This doesn't sell.

Just look at any website. UI graphics are king, and usability is at the lowest it can be.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I guess I've always been the person who likes UI change, I find it exciting to see that kind of thing. I know a ton of people will hate this, but I personally like it. The Android 12 quick settings menu looked awful to me, white straight next to black. Blur is overdue.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Blur is garbage I don't need.

Fix the crappy space-wasting nonsense.

Google is refining animations, adding blur

How about refining UI control back to the user's hand? Instead we have garbage that people with vision or motor-control challenges can't use.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I was like that. then everything started to become uglier and uglier. and I'm not even nearly old.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

as long as I can cover it all with the kiss launcher

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oof. Having to remember app names?
No thanks from me...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Way faster than searching around for icons for me, plus it auto sorts them depending on usage at times. For example in the morning Waze is there and then a bit later my work time clock shows up and Lemmy is always a press away. Plus you can add tags to things so I use voyager for Lemmy but I tagged it Lemmy so I can search for either. I use my desktop the same way I hit the super key and start typing and my applications are there so its nice to transfer that muscle memory over to my phone

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Yeah, i installed it before commenting.
I do like that i can set favorites and it also keeps history—that's handy.

I just can't ever remember the names of apps i don't use often. lol

It seems good so far, though very different from Fossify Launcher. But I'll keep playing with it for now, certainly!

I might try the tags...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah it took me some time to get used to it, I also customized it a lot over the years, I like to set it so the keyboard shows automatically so I can just hit a letter as soon as I unlock my phone

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Is this not just IOS??!??!!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm not a expert but I'm pretty sure Android isn't iOS

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I'm saying this looks A LOT like IOS, full disclosure I do not think that's a positive

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Another six years of searching out phones for custom roms to avoid Google's horseshit - in my future.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Hot take: I like it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yawn, more enshittification, is that really what people want? Seriously thinking about a degoogled phone or even free of it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (3 children)

more enshittification

Where, it's a UI refresh, not a degradation of services.

is that really what people want?

Google are the outliers. iOS has similar aesthetics. One UI has similar aesthetics. Whatever Xiaomi's is called has similar aesthetics. By the numbers, yes it is what people want.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Look man I like Xiaomi but their UI is a meme.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

... some people want that. Ie there's a window manager, openbox, it's thought of by many people as dead or not further maintained because it happens so rarely, but it is because it's good as, it works and many people love it for that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Enshittification by bloating with useless stuff. Not what people want but what they're forced (or blackmailed) into - all for G glorification and money grabbing. Look at Nova (launcher): one time affordable fee and stuff to make your phone useful (handling and aesthetics) you can have an as minimalist or as fancy environment as you want. Just read they're (Google) are going to use AI now in YouTube to give you ads when you're most focused on something - it's unethical imho and also shows how stupid advertisers are because I for one wouldn't only be peeved with Google but boycott the product or/and advertiser.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Enshittification, also known as crapification and platform decay, is a pattern in which two-sided online products and services decline in quality over time. Initially, vendors create high-quality offerings to attract users, then they degrade those offerings to better serve business customers, and finally degrade their services to users and business customers to maximize profits for shareholders.

Notice how it doesn't, by definition, cover making UI changes that a particular user doesn't like.

Put it in perspective, it's merely a fresh coat of paint. It's like calling enshittification because a CSS file doesn't load.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's worse that Android 12 and that's sayin a lot. It feels like beta software that was shoved out the door. You can tell the devs are iOS users.

There are so many things that need refining in the UI department that it's actually amazing they released it. I do not understand what they thought they had accomplished with this update.

It's kind of embarrassing, tbh.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Where are you using it?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The US

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Let me rephrase. Upon which apps are you using Material 3 Expressive?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Let me ask you a question.

Which ones do you might think I'm using?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Given that I'm yet to find an app that's implemented MYE, I'm honestly stumped.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Why are you way out there in left field?

Good Lord.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Because you said, and I quote

It feels like beta software that was shoved out the door.

Emphasis mine.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Let me break it down for you.

BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE BETA SOFTWARE

I don't believe I'm required to define for what Beta software is like to use. So instead I'm going to drop one more line about ONEUI 7 feeling unrefined, unpolished and lacking in consistency throughout the WHOLE damn OS.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

So you're judging something you haven't used yet? Cool!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Where in the world did you get that impression

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

It's worse that Android 12 and that's sayin a lot. It feels like beta software that was shoved out the door. You can tell the devs are iOS users.

There are so many things that need refining in the UI department that it's actually amazing they released it. I do not understand what they thought they had accomplished with this update.

It's kind of embarrassing, tbh.

These are your words. Now if you said…

My initial impressions are that this is a step backwards and beyond which I feel was the low point of Android 12.

While I agree that much of the UI needs refining, based on the images I've seen, I suspect they've fallen short to the point I'm surprised they're poised to release it. I am bewildered as to what the goal was with this release as surely it can't be as they say, to provide a more tactile and vibrant feeling user experience. You can clearly see they're aiming to wrangle iOS users and I'm not sure this is the right way to go.

As far as improvements I would like to see…

I would be like, 'fair enough'.