Google may be taking a page from Apple’s Liquid Glass look when it updates Android later this year. According to a new report from 9to5Google, the Mountain View giant is planning to add more translucent and frosted glass aesthetics to the menus of Android 17.
The change is part of Google’s ongoing Material 3 Expressive redesign that debuted with Android 16. It continues this with more “blur” in the visual design.
In the above image, you can see how the icons are translucent with a frosted look; you can still make out the background.
For those who dislike(d) Liquid Glass, 9to5Google claims the Google version is more “subtle” than the look of iOS 26.
Apparently, the new blur effect is not part of the Material 3 Expressive design for apps. For now, it appears limited to the core operating system but won’t translate to apps.
When will Android 17 arrive?
We don’t have an exact date for Android 17’s release, but Google pushed up the launch of Android 16 last year to June from its normal fall release. At this point, we expect Android 17 to follow a similar schedule after being fleshed out during Google I/O in May.
What will be interesting is if Google releases its new Android ‘Aluminum’ OS that is supposed to merge Android and ChromeOS into a single platform. Google has more or less confirmed this is coming, but has yet to provide a timeline for its release.
We are expecting it to debut this year, and again, will probably find out more at Google I/O. However, occasionally, Google hosts separate Android showcases later in the year, so a fall announcement is equally likely.
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