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Recap: Expressive Android, but Material ‘3.5’ apps
AppWizard
December 27, 2025

Recap: Expressive Android, but Material ‘3.5’ apps

Both Apple and Google plan significant redesigns of their operating systems for 2025. Google's Material 3 Expressive has received positive feedback for its implementation across devices, aiming for a more unified interface across Android versions, though updates to first-party applications are seen as incremental rather than transformative. The redesign includes a taller search app bar in Google Workspace apps, but inconsistencies arise as some applications cannot utilize the new design. A transition back to a shorter bottom navigation bar in some apps does not improve content space. A floating toolbar in Google Chat raises usability concerns, and the overall interface appears more cluttered due to increased use of containers. Buttons have become larger, with mixed reactions regarding their proportions. The new motion-physics system introduces appealing animations, but the functionality of Google apps remains largely unchanged, leading to a sense of familiarity rather than a transformative experience.
Fitbit App Gets Material 3 Expressive Overhaul with Fluid Animations and AI Health Coach
AppWizard
November 11, 2025

Fitbit App Gets Material 3 Expressive Overhaul with Fluid Animations and AI Health Coach

Google is fully embracing Fitbit following its acquisition, as demonstrated by the announcement of the Material 3 Expressive redesign for the Fitbit app. This update features a streamlined bottom navigation bar, a pull-down sync gesture, a distinctive loading indicator, and a linear progress bar for syncing. The redesign includes visual enhancements such as checkmarks for completed goals, unique sheet designs for Today, Fitness, and Sleep feeds, and detailed cards with color coding. The app does not currently support Dynamic Color, maintaining a default blue accent for certain UI elements. The navigation experience is described as seamless, with smooth loading charts and the introduction of an AI-powered Personal Health Coach. The Material 3 Expressive update is set to launch next year, with a current public preview limited to users in the United States.
This could be my new PDF scanner app once Microsoft Lens is taken away
AppWizard
August 18, 2025

This could be my new PDF scanner app once Microsoft Lens is taken away

Microsoft Lens is integrating into Copilot, prompting users to seek alternatives like PDFgear Scan, a mobile scanning app that utilizes AI for document processing. Upon launching PDFgear Scan, users access its core functionalities directly, though newcomers may find this disorienting. The app offers various scan modes and organizational tools, but customization options are limited. It successfully scans documents with impressive OCR performance, even in challenging conditions, and allows saving extracted text in formats like DOCX, though it lacks advanced formatting options. PDFgear Scan excels in receipt tracking, efficiently capturing key data and allowing users to verify or modify information. It includes a search function with filters for categorizing purchases. While it offers basic editing tasks and signature creation, edited receipts may lose their original recognition. The app features an AI chatbot for querying scanned documents, but its accuracy can be questionable. PDFgear Scan is a free alternative to Microsoft Lens, providing a user-friendly interface and effective scanning capabilities, particularly for receipt management, but it lacks some specialized features of Microsoft Lens.
Google updates Play Books with Dynamic Color
AppWizard
April 1, 2025

Google updates Play Books with Dynamic Color

In February 2024, Play Books adopted the Material You redesign, introducing Dynamic Color theming, which enhances its user interface by moving away from a static blue accent color. The new design features Dynamic Color across various elements such as the bottom bar, background, and current tab indicator, while maintaining unchanged reading options. The Library tab showcases the best implementation of the new design, despite some padding issues in other areas. Other Google applications, including Google, Play Store, Google Maps, and Google TV, have not yet adopted the Dynamic Color feature.
YouTube TV for Android picks up a controversial design change from the main YouTube app
AppWizard
December 2, 2024

YouTube TV for Android picks up a controversial design change from the main YouTube app

YouTube TV is introducing a mini-player feature in its Android app, inspired by the main YouTube app's design. The mini-player, available in version 8.47.0, will be located at the bottom of the screen and includes controls for play, pause, rewind, fast-forward in 15-second increments, and pinch-to-zoom functionality. This development follows user backlash against a similar mini-player in the main YouTube app, which was later reverted to a stationary design due to glitches. YouTube TV aims to provide a smoother experience with this new feature.
YouTube TV for Android gets resizable PiP-style miniplayer
AppWizard
December 2, 2024

YouTube TV for Android gets resizable PiP-style miniplayer

YouTube TV on Android devices has introduced a revamped miniplayer that now operates as a picture-in-picture window. The previous miniplayer was anchored to the bottom bar and displayed the program name with a progress bar. The new design features play/pause controls, 15-second rewind and skip buttons, and a close option. Users can expand the view with a tap and utilize pinch-to-zoom functionality. This update is part of version 8.47.0 of YouTube TV for Android and aims to enhance usability and align the miniplayer experience across YouTube applications.
Turn on Windows 11's hidden OCR feature in Photos app. It's really good.
Winsage
November 22, 2024

Turn on Windows 11’s hidden OCR feature in Photos app. It’s really good.

Microsoft has added Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities to the Photos app, allowing users to extract text from images. This feature is off by default but can be activated through registry modifications. Users need to open the Registry Editor, load a specific hive, and create a .reg file with designated content to enable OCR. Once activated, a "Scan text" icon appears in the Photos app, enabling users to identify and copy text from images. The OCR feature shows high accuracy, even recognizing stylized text. Additionally, Microsoft has introduced other enhancements to the Photos app, including a Zoom slider and improved launch times, while also integrating Microsoft Designer for creative effects.
One UI 7 (Android 15) support now live for Samsung Parental Controls
AppWizard
November 6, 2024

One UI 7 (Android 15) support now live for Samsung Parental Controls

Google is updating its Google Keep app with a new design that replaces the bottom navigation bar with a Floating Action Button (FAB) located in the bottom right corner. The FAB uses pill-shaped buttons for tasks, allowing users to create new notes, lists, drawings, or photos, but the option to create audio notes has been removed. This redesign aims to create a cleaner and more modern interface, reducing clutter and helping users focus on their content. The update is being rolled out to Android users with Google Keep version 5.24.432.x, but availability for other platforms is not specified.
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