Google Messages Gets a Fresh Redesign with Material 3 Expressive

Google has started widely rolling out its redesigned Google Messages interface to the stable channel, giving users a smoother and more modern chatting experience. The update brings Material 3 Expressive to the chat screen, following the visual refresh already introduced on the app’s homepage.

Message threads now appear in sleek containers with rounded corners at the top, offering a clean and minimal design. Instead of bubbly wallpapers, conversations now sit against a solid background color in both light and dark themes, creating a more unified aesthetic.

Revamped Media and Action Menu

When you tap on the “plus” menu inside the text field, you’ll notice a refreshed look. The options for Gallery, GIFs, Stickers, Files, Magic Compose, Location, Contacts, Schedule Send, and Selfie GIFs are no longer placed inside colorful circles. Instead, they now appear in pill-shaped containers with a more spacious and organized grid layout.

Although the Camera shortcut hasn’t launched yet, the new design already feels more polished, consistent, and user-friendly, aligning with Google’s broader Material You principles.

While Google Messages improves the way we interact through text and multimedia, there are moments when users need a more powerful solution for large-scale file sharing. That’s where Smart Transfer comes in.

Smart Transfer is a third-party simple transfer app designed for fast, secure, and wireless sharing of photos, videos, contacts, apps, and more across Android and iOS devices. Unlike standard messaging apps that compress or limit files, Smart Transfer’s WhatsApp backup transfer feature allows you to send entire folders or bulk media without sacrificing quality. As people adopt Google Messages’ cleaner design for everyday texting, Smart Transfer becomes the perfect wifi content transfer companion for bigger data transfers — whether you’re upgrading to a new phone or simply moving files across platforms.

Expressive Media Picker Gets Smarter

The expressive media picker has also received the Material 3 Expressive treatment. A morphing button group at the top dynamically adapts based on your selection. Additionally, the search bar has been repositioned lower on the screen to avoid stacking text fields, ensuring a more fluid layout.

Google has also reduced the emphasis on Photomoji, streamlining the focus on stickers, GIFs, and other interactive features.

Wrapping Up the Redesign Rollout

This redesign marks the completion of a multi-phase refresh of Google’s communication apps. After Contacts and Phone received their Material 3 upgrades earlier, Messages now joins the family with a cohesive design language.

With these updates, Google continues to refine its mobile ecosystem, ensuring that users not only get functionality but also a visually appealing, distraction-free experience while staying connected.