YouTube Music on Wear OS shows signs of Material 3 Expressive revamp

Google has been working to bring its latest Material 3 Expressive aesthetics across multiple apps and interfaces. While Android phones have been the blessed recipients of the new design language, Google has also begun painting elements from the smaller screen with similar visuals.

The Pixel Watch 4 is splattered with a healthy dose of the Expressive design, thanks to its Wear OS 6 interface. Meanwhile, Google has also been testing a design revamp for apps such as Maps, even on older versions of Wear OS. Apps, such as Google Calendar, Home, Keep, Messages, and Gemini for Watch, already have the updated visuals. Now, YouTube Music on Wear OS is getting a similar treatment.

We’re seeing evidence of Material 3 Expressive design in YouTube Music on Wear OS. Like other apps, the change does not appear to be limited to Wear OS 6 devices. The changes predominantly appear on the Wear OS tile, where we now see a more notable Browse button underneath suggestions for playlists. The button ditches the bland white appearance for a colorful style, along with its cloud-like form.

Meanwhile, there are some more noticeable changes through the YouTube Music interface on Wear OS. The stadium-shaped (rectangles with rounded corners) blobs for each item now occupy more space vertically.

The text on these blobs also appears bigger, and therefore, more legible. Google still appears to be using a Roboto-like compact font instead of switching to a broader Sans-serif typeface, and we’re unsure if that’s up for an update or left intentionally.

We’re still seeing the older interface in the player menu, suggesting that Google might be midway through the rollout. Alternatively, it may have just released the update for the app partially, though we’d love for it to be completed soon. We’ll keep you posted on any updates with the new interface.