Google Chat is getting the Material You redesign it so desperately needed

Google has been busy refreshing its suite of Workspace apps this year, and now it’s Chat’s turn. The app will be getting a new look based on Google’s Material You design. This will bring several changes (pictured below), including updated fonts, colors, and layouts, making it more consistent with the company’s other products like Gmail and Drive, all of which received the rework earlier this year.

This gorgeous, modernized experience aims to “increase collaboration and help users complete tasks more easily within their workflows”, according to Google. The changes can be seen throughout, like in the top search bar, left navigation, main message view, new topic button, and thread panel within direct messages and spaces – all of which will now feature rounded buttons and edges, as well as backplate colors for highlighted or selected segments.

The update will be automatically rolled out to the web over the next few weeks for both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains starting on April 13, 2023. All Workspace customers, including legacy G Suite Basic and Business users, and those with personal Google Accounts will get the new look.

It’s not like the original design was super out-of-date looking or anything, but Material You, or Material Design 3, is certainly much nicer looking. The more the company makes all of its services look and feel cohesive before they inherently try to create a new design language – as they always do – the better (rest in peace, Holo Design).