Since the launch of Android P, Google has been hard at work rolling out its new “Google Material Theme” design language across all of its products. Desktop Gmail got its big redesign early in 2018, and this week is mobile Gmail’s turn. On its official blog today, Google announced the new Gmail mobile design for Android and iOS.
We only have a few basic pictures to go on right now, but like every other Google Material redesign, the new Gmail app is best described as “white and round.” Google’s new design language uses the stark white Google.com homepage as inspiration, so its new apps are almost entirely devoid of color. The big red header from the old Gmail app has been swapped out for a white search bar, so the only touches of color are from contact pictures, labels, and attachments.
Besides the new color scheme, Google says you’ll be able to “quickly view attachments—like photos—without opening or scrolling through the conversation.” The top search bar promotes search more, and it also houses your profile icon on the right side, which lets you change accounts faster.
While the new Gmail is very, very white, there is a chance that a dark mode is coming. In the next version of Android, “Android Q,” alternative dark designs are expected to be a focus, and a lot of these all-white Google app redesigns have eventually added an all-dark design that you can switch to. Even if a dark mode doesn’t show up at launch, it looks like these plainer redesigns allow Google to easily swap the color schemes of apps, and one could be added later down the line.
We’re expecting the Android app to hit the Web any minute now, and the iOS update should be out sometime this week. We’ll dive into the new design more once we have an actual working copy in front of us. Stay tuned!
