Last year’s Material 3 Expressive UI update added blurs to the background of system=wide pages
Last year’s Material 3 Expressive UI update added system-wide blurs to the interface background on system-level features such as the Quick Settings and Notification Shade. Swiping up to see the app drawer shows a blurred-out image of your home screen as opposed to viewing a solid block of color. The “recents” menu is also another place where you can see the blurry background quite clearly.
Blurring the background page prevents it from being a distraction
How to disable the blur
Some users are more distracted by the blur than helped by it. If that describes you, blurs can be disabled by following these directions:
- Open Settings.
- Go to Accessibility.
- Tap Color and motion.
- Toggle off “Disable background blur” (or “Remove blur”).
The aforementioned report notes that the lozenge-shaped volume bar in Android 17 will have a translucent look which is comparable with frosted glass. If the volume bar is shown inside an app, you will be able to clearly see what is behind the volume slider. Blurs will have a tint determined by the user’s Dynamic Color theme.
Android 17 is not expected to be a major redesign and should be considered a continuation of Android 16‘s Material 3 Expressive rollout.
