Google is apparently working on a vast suite of changes across a number of web and mobile apps, according to a new Material Design video that has since gone private on Vimeo. A reupload found on YouTube is shown below, and among the apps in line for big changes, you can see the mobile versions of Gmail and Photos, among others. On the desktop side of things, only Photos seems to be shown off in this video, but changes could certainly be coming to more desktop apps and sites in the near future. It should be noted, however, that this concept video shows off a number of things that Google is working on internally, and this should not be taken as an official announcement that any of these designs are finalized, or that they’re coming out any time soon.
First in line with a drastic new design is Drive, whose mobile version in the video sports a tabbed design with prominent carousels, a design concept that transcends previous Material Design guidelines in a number of very obvious ways, such as making a point of eliminating any need for nested tabs. The bottom bar has also been changed, and there’s a new look to the menu that pops up when selecting a file. A new convention for icons is shown in the video, and one of its most prominent appearances is in Google Photos. A web version is also shown, which looks much like the mobile version, but expanded, and with a top bar that hosts an upload button. In Gmail, the bottom bar is changed a bit to hold more weight in the middle, and the compose button has been moved to the middle. This is a prominent new design choice that seems to only make itself known when the action it holds would presumably be among the most appropriate for the moment. Trips is also shown with a carousel-focused redesign, and the Google App in the video has a top bar redesign, more shortcuts, and a number of new inline options that sit flush with the main content in the app.
Material Design debuted in Android 5.0 Lollipop, and Google has been spreading it and tweaking it ever since. It is the end-all, be-all design guideline for Android and Chrome OS developers, and Google has even put out a suite of tools to make it easier than ever to create apps and services that conform to the standard. Though this video was officially pulled, indicating that some of the changes in it won’t be final, the march of Material Design will inevitably continue, and many of those changes may well make their way into user-facing products.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGH7xQpgt-U