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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by rokzoi@lemmy.world to c/android@lemmy.world

Are you guys tired of the "Material You" design? I don't really like the huge paddings on everything aspect of it. Also a lot of it feels too flat. What do you guys think?

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[-] FVVS@l.lucitt.com 11 points 1 year ago

As a UI/UX designer myself (hobbyist, to be clear), I really like it.

There seems to be this notion in the homebrew/FOSS/Linux community that "wasted space" is always non-preferable. I can see this being true for some people, but I feel like a lot of people and band wagoning this opinion.

It's pretty universally known and accepted in the design community that padding is extremely important when it comes to helping your brain read and separate content. And to be fair, most non-tech people prefer space and padding in their applications to make things easier to understand.

I can be entirely off base here, but TLDR: I like padding and it's literally beneficial to helping your brain understand the layout of what you're looking at better.

[-] Zeus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

personal opinion, i think padding is worse for delineating objects than a bit of colour; or just, like, a line. look at this example - there are four distinct segments on the left, whereas on the right they all merge into one and a half

padding is really useful, yes, but if you put padding on everything then what's there to be separated?

[-] Virkkunen@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

The one on the right looks like different buttons and that everything is clickable. A quick glance shows you different elements and you can easily find what you're looking for. An example of form and function working together.

The one on the left looks like a text area showing different symbols. A quick glance shows you a blue area and a white area. Seems like you need that extra moment to find what you want because everything looks the same. An example of function over form.

Cramming a lot of things together isn't always good (probably it's just bad in general) because it just makes things confusing and ends up wasting time more than having bigger things but less of them.

[-] Zeus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

meh, i'd say they're obviously buttons from context (why would a calculator app just have a bunch of random unclickable symbols?). but assuming they don't immediately read to you as buttons; md3 calc app only has 8 buttons: AC, (), %, ÷, ×, -, +, & =. ~~the rest is just exactly the same mess of text randomly laid out~~ edit 2023-08-03: i have now looked at this image on a better calibrated monitor. the numbers actually do have background circles (why did no-one pick me up on this). however, this does prove my point about the complete lack of any contrast on anything

having areas is good as it allows the eye to do a sort of binary search: if i want a scientific function i'll look in the white on blue, operators in blue on white, numbers in black on white; then search for the exact button i want. without that, everything's an unorganised mess (for instance why are brackets in the same section as operators?), with some functions hidden in the v button at the top right

also i've just noticed - how do the brackets work in md3? do you have to tap the button once to bring up a menu and then tap the bracket you want? or does it automatically insert one based on whether you're inside a set? if it's the latter, how does one do nested brackets?

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[-] Cosmic_Frog@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

As a UI/UX designer myself (non-hobbyist), there's UI and there's UX. What differentiates a good-looking design from a crappy-looking design, most of all, is space (or padding). There are many other factors, of course, contrast being also very important for example, but space is number one. But that doesn't make a design good, just good-looking, which is a very different thing.

Adding steps to take a common action (turn off wifi or whatever) because you used to have a certain number of buttons and now you have to hide some to add space... That's bad design. Good looking, good UI. Shit UX.

Space should be added when needed. And you need it, when you do, to make thinks clearer. You shouldn't add space to make it look better if that's gonna make the experience worse.

The number one rule of design is that form follows function. You should make things as pretty as possible until you find the wall of functionality, and then you stop. Going from six quick access buttons to four was breaking that wall. You wanna be just on top of the wall. Go to one side, you get a great looking interface people hate to use. Go the other side, you get an interface that's dense and full of things you want, but looks like a piece of nerd shit.

I'm also tired of people repeating the same copypasted ideas about any new design system out there (as I'm sure most people are when hearing people talk about their area of expertise), but they are not wrong on that regard when it comes to material you. Shit name by the way.

[-] rtxn@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

While you're here, I'm curious about your opinion on the latest Spotify client design. It feels like they want to bring the desktop design closer to the touch screen client (maybe to reduce the codebase not shared by the projects). Personally, having grown up with Winamp, I find it very uncomfortable how images are dominant in both list and grid views, and how much space is left (really wasted) around texts. I think it's just a very inefficient interface with way too much useless visual fluff.

spoiler

(the application on the left is a terminal-based client that really only needs a tiny corner on the screen)

[-] Coliseum7428@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Not who you’re replying to, but I don’t like the giant album art menus. Save that for a now playing screen that should still be able to be shrunk down.

[-] rokzoi@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

It's nice to see your perspective on it, you make some great points.

Its funny how the places that I dislike the most (status bar toggles and recently google search) are used often and thus do not need the benefits of reading and content separation. You already know by heart what it says and where they are.

Maybe I would like it more if the big padding would only be used in places where I do not interact often with. This would make consistency difficult though.

[-] wason@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Good point but just because you know where certain things are on screen, that doesn't mean everybody knows. So you have to account for that too. Like design considering that that's the first time someone's looking at that screen.

[-] _thisdot@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago

UI dev here. To add to this, good use of “negative space / white apace” is also beneficial in signalling abundance. The more negative space you can afford to “waste”, the more resources you signal to have.

Luxury brand ads are good examples. Compare this Citizen Watch ad (https://images.app.goo.gl/mALYonDz6qzKJjuJ6) to this (https://images.app.goo.gl/sTXzyrFXNDUxR8AR9)

https://boagworld.com/design/why-whitespace-matters/

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[-] MattyXarope@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I'm not upset by it because, like all Google design eras, nearly no one uses it uniformly.

[-] ScreaminOctopus@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

The dynamic colors are a fucking nightmare. No, I don't want all my ui elements to be the same color as my girlfriend's skin tone. And the worst is even if I change it, it resets every update. I also don't like the new quick access controls in the pull down. This is really the first Android update that's felt like a flat downgrade for me.

[-] chadmichael@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I love it. Personal preference, of course. :)

[-] Zeus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

yeah, i hated material ew as soon as it was announced. so much padding everywhere, and so little contrast - to paraphrase the incredibles: if everything's orange^[1]^, nothing is. your eyes will adjust to it. i want actionable items to stand out, not be a slightly lighter shade of the same colour. it also looks rather like a fischer-price my first phone interface

i must say, if an app (for example, jerboa) uses material 3, i usually try to look for an alternative

[1] other colours are available, i just like orange


edit: some examples:

with material design, it's clear what's a header, what's a footer,^[2]^ and what each button's state is.

with all the padding, there's also less space; leading to less functionality

with material ew, it's much harder to tell at a glance what each app is, one has to scrutinise the icon rather than just tell at a glance by colour

i also really dislike monet; the way it pulls this horrible washed out sickly pastel colour from a wallpaper and washes it over the entire app. if i just pulled one accent colour, and applied that to, say, the header and main action button, i'd like it a lot more

[2] look at the lack of contrast on that "new post" button

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[-] seafootball@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I actually like it very much!

[-] ar0177417@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Android 11 was the last best Android version in terms of UI

[-] tentphone@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

I like it fine, I just wish Google (and Microsoft, Apple, etc) would decide on a consistent UI theme instead of completely changing it every few years. They don't even have time get all their first party apps up to date with the latest design trend before they move on to a new one, and third party apps are even worse. I have apps on my phone in like 4 different UI styles now.

[-] OpenStars@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

And it would be different if it was always improving, but these sideways or even backwards moves... forget it:-(.

[-] AnonymousLlama@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I like the integration of adaptive icons for Android. I'm really keen on selecting a theme based on my current wallpaper and that color being used for all apps.

Not many apps are currently supporting it, even Facebook and other players you'd assume could do it in a seconds aren't.

Implementing it looks fairly straight forward, you provide a transparent image of your logo and it adaptive naturally to suit your theme. I assume apps are intentionally being difficult because that visually changes their logo / branding.

It's great when it works tho!

[-] eighty@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Design preferences has a tendency to be "cyclical" appearing to be tiresome. That's fine and an encouraged strength of customisablility.

The issue is unified design language across android devices. Material You attempts to solve this to limited success. But it's better than the alternatives I've seen in the past.

The over-padding (especially default widgets) is something I take issue with but it's a preference and can easily be adjusted.

[-] T156@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I'm personally not that fond of it, and kind of want it to blow over in favour of a new trend.

It lacks the charm, and neat little 3D effects that skeumorphism had, but that's also not helped by it being implemented poorly.

[-] bizzle@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I'm over pastel colors, honestly. I want bold, vibrant colors. At least the option. It feels like Google is stripping more and more customizability with every update.

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[-] Laice@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

i always disliked material and material you. They look too coperate.

[-] kamen@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I don't particularly like it or hate it; I see it as the perceivably necessary new thing that's introduced each year to keep people interested.

[-] EveningNewbs@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I still want Material back.

[-] sure@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

My main complaint is the amount of padding everything has, it makes things feel so cramped, even on a big screen. Increasing the information density would really improve the design, imo. Making colors more saturated would be cool too.

But other than that, the design is growing on me.

[-] lalay721@feddit.it 2 points 1 year ago

Definitely not, first of all I love pastel colors and, on the more practical side of things, at least for touch interfaces I do prefer to have some padding: even on larger screens (my current phone is 6.7") I tend to prefer larger and more padded interfaces to avoid hitting the wrong one (and that's the main reason why I don't like to type on a phone that much).

So I might even be in the minority but having a control center with larger but less buttons on each page is exactly what I prefer, I don't mind having to scroll if it's easier to toggle what I need to.

[-] evil_opossum@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Not "tired" of it, but I'm looking forward to more colour options rather than just pastel colours that sorta work half the time. I hope I can customize it a bit more in the next release.

[-] StoicLime@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I didn't like it a ton initially, but after seeing the new Sync for Reddit redesign, and seeing how perfectly they've implemented it, I love it. Props to the Sync dev, they really got the idea behind Material You. Can't wait for the alpha of Sync for Lemmy.

[-] ilickfrogs@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Personally I love it. It was certainly a very jarring change from what I'd grown accustomed to in the years prior. But it's playful while also being clean and professional. Hope more devs implement it in their apps as time goes on.

[-] AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

As a professional UX designer, the padding is the least of the issues.

I'm hoping I get used to it, but I miss more skeuomorphic design. It's like a designer wanted to push it to be edgy and forgot about real people using it.... which describes the bulk of Apple design, too, for that matter. I think we overshot the balance point.

Edit: forgot my real point halfway through commenting: I will say even that isn't the worst of it, though. The dynamic theming is a bit of a branding nightmare.

[-] Skyraptor7@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I miss the UI from android 4.3.. it was so clean and minimal.

[-] unfnknblvbl@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I miss TabletUI :(

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[-] dinckelman@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I thought it looked really weird before I got to use it, and I still think that, now that both the apps I use, and my OS, have received the updated to M-You. I think it uses the available space horribly, and the color schemes it attempts to provide never feel like what I want

Absolutely not.

I'm way more tired of the designs before it, or the apps halfway into the design language but not really. Especially if it is to the point where just using the material you colours you have seperates it, signal comes to mind there for example.

Some apps can keep their design layout but please let me use my material you colours anyways

What's the biggest difference between Material and Material You, other than the custom colorization?

[-] iliketurtles@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I find it and other modern designs to be boring, but I don't hate it.

[-] Marxine@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

My main issue is the lack of good contrast, it really hurts.

[-] faltuuser@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Big fan of material you.

[-] Deestan@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

There will always be a need for a one-size-fits-all design, and I think it works well enough for that.

But yeah, I wish more apps took the extra step to specialize their layout to fit their own usage. Sometimes you are dealing with a lot of data and it helps to have different borders and less margins.

[-] atake@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Absolutely like it. This design is very cool and has huge potential

[-] merryflag0655@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Wasn't a fan at the beginning, now I think it's great.

[-] Never_Sm1le@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

The only thing I hate about MY is its comically big quick settings. Give me back the Android 11 quick settings and it will be fine (the Internet QS be damned)

[-] Rac3r4Life@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

No, not at all. I am really fond of Material You. I think it is a nice mix of modern and playful. The colors are great too. I seek out applications that adhere to the material you standards and allow for using system colors. I have a Pixel 7 and a Pixel Watch. I'm excited to see what Material You looks like on the watch when the Wear OS 4 update comes.

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this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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