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ChromeOS still has a few holdout areas where the latest Material You look and feel hasn’t quite made its mark. While the Files app was upgraded to the latest UI when Material You made it to ChromeOS, one other, primary system app still maintained the older look from non-Material ChromeOS: the Settings App. Sure, the color-changing, theme-matching tricks showed up with Material You, but the overall aesthetic simply doesn’t yet match things like Quick Settings, Chrome’s new look, and what you see in the app drawer. But that’s all about to change.
A whole new look for ChromeOS settings
This visual overhaul will come with two major upgrades: simple design tweaks with new icons and a completely new layout. It still feels familiar and works in much the same way, but different settings are grouped in different ways that make a bit more sense for users new and old alike. Let’s look at the visuals first.
As you can see from the images above, the entire settings menu looks far more in-line with what you’d see on a Pixel phone with the latest Material You look and feel. Corners are rounded, the sidebar menu gets a nice outline, highlighted section get a massive pop of theme color, the new icons are bolder, and the sub-headings in the sidebar help users find their way around a bit easier.
And speaking of those icons, they accompany the new sections of the ChromeOS Settings app that group items a bit differently. Additionally, these groupings now sit on their own when selected instead of remaining as a part of one, long settings list. Clicking into the Network section, for example, only shows you settings for network-related items. It makes far more sense and is much clearer to navigate.
How to try it out for yourself
As long as you are on ChromeOS 120 (if not, go get updated), this new settings overhaul is behind a simple flag (chrome://flags/#os-settings-revamp-wayfinding) that you can switch on with ease. Once you do so, restart your device and this updated settings app will await you. While it doesn’t necessarily do anything new, it does help you move through setting far simpler and it just looks great doing it.
VIA: @cajl_jbmm
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