Google's Search App For Android Gets Material Design Update And New Smarts
The Google app for Android — the app that handles your voice searches, Google Now Updates and more — is getting an update today that brings Google's new Material Design user interface to the app for devices …
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already begun carrying Material Design into Android distribution surfaces, including Material-styled Google Play app pages, following a July preview of a redesigned listing interface. The Search app update extends that visual system to an app used for voice queries and Google Now.
Search had also gained listings for installed apps and Google Play results in 2013, making its interface a discovery layer between users, on-device apps, and the Play catalog. A consistent redesign therefore matters beyond a cosmetic refresh.
First-order effects
- Android users get a Material Design version of Google's Search app, affecting the interface through which Google presents voice search and Google Now updates.
Second-order effects
- Google's Search and Play surfaces become more visually consistent, reinforcing a single path from a search query to app content or Play listings.
Third-order effects
- If Google continues applying Material Design across core Android services, interface consistency becomes a platform-control tool: Google can make its own discovery and information surfaces feel like one connected operating layer.
The trend: Google is consolidating Android's search, discovery, and contextual-information touchpoints around a shared design system and operating layer.