Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is experimenting with wallpaper-based theming in Gemini, which is part of the Google app.
- The Google app on Android and the Play Store still use default colors, white and blue.
- More specifically, the changes have begun to appear in Gemini’s floating overlay, while other elements still use default colors.
Google introduced its wallpaper-based theming engine back in 2021, and eventually popularized it as Material You. Since its rollout, the majority of Google’s own apps have adopted it. And while Material You has already been succeeded by the newer Material 3 Expressive design philosophy, a few exceptions, such as the Play Store and parts of the Google app, still remain and use the traditional white-and-blue color scheme.
But Google may now be on its way to bringing these remaining apps on par with the others, and it appears to be starting with Gemini.
We’ve learned that Google is now experimenting with color-coding Gemini to your wallpaper, just like other system apps. Gemini is not an independent app, but part of the Google app on Android. So, we’re witnessing these changes to Gemini being tested with the latest version (17.12.51) of the Google app. Although theming for Gemini isn’t live yet, we have force-enabled it.
More specifically, we’ve spotted it being tested on the floating Gemini overlay, which appears when you invoke it directly from the homescreen or over other apps. When Gemini is summoned, we can see a slightly tinted floating bar as well as the darker button for Gemini Live.
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The color also changes when the system theme is switched from sand to green, confirming that the Gemini overlay adheres to the system’s theme. Besides the color support, we’re not seeing any significant changes to the shapes of buttons or other elements in line with Material 3 Expressive, though we expect that to happen eventually.
Notably, while we could activate theming support for the Gemini overlay, the main Gemini app still shows its existing colors. This indicates the feature may be far from being implemented widely, and this may only be the beginning of the transformation. However, there’s an equal chance we’re wrong about that.
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