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Throughout most of last year, Google was doing a mass overhaul of its apps to give them the Material You look. While that process is mostly complete, it’s ongoing. While Google overhauled Google Translate for Pixels a while back, it’s now doing so for other phones (even phones not on Android 12).
The new Google Translate Design is making it to other devices
According to Android Police, people are reporting that they’re seeing Google Translate get the Material You look. Material You is a design aesthetic intrinsic to Android 12, but I got the design on my LG Velvet which is running Android 11. Other people are reporting their devices getting the updated UI, and some of them are also running older versions of Android.
It’s great that this is trickling down older versions of Android, but there’s one caveat. If you’re running Android 11 or older, you won’t be able to theme the app using Dynamic Color. You will only have the blue aesthetic that’s present in the older design.
The old design really needed an overhaul
We’re used to Google giving its Pixel phones features and updates before other phones, and that makes sense; they’re Google’s own creations. Pixel users have been able to enjoy the new look for the Google Translate app while others couldn’t. Even though other phones are running Android 12, they’re stuck with the older design.
The older design has the Material Design aesthetic that was introduced with Android 5 Lollipop. The older design contrasts Material You in a lot of ways. Firstly, the old design is much more square than the new one. The top of the UI has the text field with the camera, transcribe, and conversation buttons right under it. Under that, there’s a lot of empty space. Everything has the classic blue color scheme that was present in years past.
The new Google Translate design is very different
With the Material You design aesthetic, Google really took the design in a different direction. Firstly, the camera, conversation, and transcribe buttons are located on the bottom of the UI. They’re enclosed in large circles. Above them, we see the languages inside of large rounded rectangles. Unlike with the older design, the new design has the text field taking up most of the screen. It, easily, takes up about 60% of the screen.
If you want to see if you can get the new Google Translate design, you’ll want to make sure that you’re on the latest version of the app. Go to the Google Play Store and see if you have the option to update the app. If you don’t have the option, then you might have to wait for it to hit your device.
