Google’s Expressive Clock redesign is already ticking people off (Update: Google response)

Update, August 29, 2025 (12:40 PM ET): Following the various complaints outlined in our original article below, the official PixelCommunity account posted the following response on one of the Reddit threads about these Google Clock issues:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Our team is aware of the issue and has already identified the root cause. We are currently working on a solution, which is scheduled to be rolled out soon.

Original article, August 27, 2025 (6:51 PM ET):  Google’s flashy Expressive makeover for the Clock app was supposed to be a simple style update, but plenty of people are unimpressed, to say the least. Across Reddit and Google support forums, people are finding the redesigned app jittery, awkward, and generally a bit of a mess.

On the r/GooglePixel subreddit, one complaint shows the time jittering every second in the World Clock view, with the font resizing and the lower UI shifting around each time the digits change. “It’s so bad it’s funny,” reads the most upvoted response.

It’s a similar story over on r/NothingTech, with another video highlighting the jittery issue on the stopwatch. The variable-width font makes the numbers shift horizontally as they tick up, giving the impression that the whole display is unstable. It’s not exactly ideal when trying to focus on precise timing. Some users said enabling bold text makes it even worse. The video below comes from AleksLevet’s  Reddit post.

This horizontal movement of the numbers isn’t the only design gripe. A separate post from a Nothing user shows that the oversized new layout can no longer fit all controls on one page, forcing them to scroll slightly to see everything.

Meanwhile, on Google’s support forum, users reported the word “Stopwatch” being split in half because of the larger font sizing, with the “h” sitting on a second line. The only obvious fix appears to be shrinking the text system-wide.

Not everyone sees all of these issues, as they seem to depend on display size, font choice, and other settings. But that’s arguably part of the frustration — Google’s default apps should be robust enough to handle those scenarios smoothly. Instead, the Google Clock redesign feels half-baked, with complaints piling up just days after the rollout began.

For now, the only advice from Google’s support forum is to submit feedback and wait for a patch. Let us know in the comments if you’ve experienced similar issues.