design enhancements Archives

AppWizard

September 12, 2025

New Stalker remaster patch continues to combat ongoing performance woes

GSC Game World has remastered the original Stalker trilogy into the Stalker: Legends of the Zone collection, which includes Stalker: Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat. The remasters have received mixed reviews due to performance issues, prompting the release of Patch 1.3 to enhance the gaming experience. This update includes numerous bug fixes, a font overhaul for better visibility, and the integration of a quick slot system from Call of Pripyat into the earlier titles. It also addresses technical glitches such as sky blurriness and hand animation issues. The updated version of Stalker: Shadow of Chornobyl Enhanced Edition is available for purchase on Steam.

AppWizard

September 4, 2025

Google is expanding the Pixel Weather app to Wear OS

The Pixel Weather app will launch on Wear OS, expanding from its original phone and tablet versions. It features a layout similar to the existing Weather app but incorporates Material 3 Expressive design elements. The app retains familiar iconography, including a yellow sun on a blue background, and presents weather information in a pill-shaped card that displays current conditions, temperature, daily highs and lows, and a "Feels like" metric. It also includes a detailed hourly forecast, supports watch face complications, and organizes information into three bubbles: temperature, precipitation, and daily highs and lows. Additional tiles for sunrise/sunset times and UV index are part of the new design. The app is expected to launch with the Pixel Watch 4 next month, and Google has started sharing screenshots on the Play Store. The future of the existing Weather app is uncertain as the Pixel Weather app prepares to take prominence in Wear OS.

AppWizard

September 3, 2025

New Androidify App Uses Google’s Best AI Models To Turn Your Selfies Into Cute, Custom Android Bots

Google unveiled Androidify, a platform that allows users to create personalized Android bots from selfies or text prompts using advanced AI models, including the "Nano-Banana" image generator from Gemini. The service captures general features and accessories without replicating users' faces. Androidify uses Gemini 2.5 Flash to validate selfies and employs a tailored version of Imagen 3 for generating custom avatars. Users can also create backgrounds for their bots with Nano-Banana and animate their creations using Veo 3, producing 8-second videos weekly.

AppWizard

August 31, 2025

Messaging app on your Galaxy phone gets more expressive design

Google is updating its Google Messages app with a new design called Material 3 Expressive, which began rolling out to users, especially those with Galaxy devices. The redesign features a container-centric layout, with chat threads housed in rounded containers for better organization. The interface includes a revamped emoji picker and a repositioned search bar for emojis below the tab bar. The Plus menu for adding attachments has also been redesigned with monochrome icons in pill-shaped containers. Additionally, enhancements are being made to other Google applications like Google Clock, Contacts, Phone, Gmail, and Translate for Android.

AppWizard

August 29, 2025

Another Pixel app gets a splash of Material 3 Expressive design

Google has updated the Pixel Sounds app to version 3.3, introducing a new interface that features a grid layout, vibrant colors, and dynamic shapes. The app now has a jagged circle design on the homepage with a central Play icon, enhancing user experience. A new font style improves readability, and sound options are presented in distinct boxes that change shape upon selection. While custom vibration settings are not included in this update, indications in the app's code suggest they may be added in the future. The redesign is available for the Pixel 10, and users of older Pixel models running Android 16 can sideload the APK to access the new interface.

AppWizard

July 14, 2025

Google TV on Android begins its Material 3 Expressive revamp in latest update

Google has begun rolling out the Material 3 Expressive design in the Google TV app with the update version 4.39.3356.780959673.5. This update includes design enhancements such as a larger banner on movie and TV show detail pages that displays titles and ratings in a center-aligned format. The buttons for Watchlist, Watched it, Like, and Dislike have been redesigned without circular borders, and the Ratings section shortcuts have adopted a pill-shaped form. Image previews in the Top Stories section now have rounded corners, and the Important Information section has been restructured into a clearer two-column layout. Not all changes from the Material 3 framework are included in this release, and user feedback will be important for future updates.

AppWizard

July 11, 2025

Google removes an often used tab from its Android phone app but don’t worry

In a recent update to the Phone by Google app, the Favorites tab has been moved from the bottom of the screen to the top, with an arrow indicating its functionality. For beta users, tapping the down arrow reveals five favorite contacts and a button to add new favorites. This redesign improves user experience and layout, allowing more space for Recents, Contacts, and Voicemail tabs, and makes the Floating Action Button (FAB) for the dial pad more accessible. The update is available on devices like the Pixel 6 Pro running Android 16 QPR1 Beta, version 182.0.779772896-publicbeta. Users not seeing the new feature may be awaiting a server-side rollout. Pixel users can check the app version by navigating to Settings > Apps > See all apps, locating the Phone app, and scrolling to the bottom of the App info page.

AppWizard

June 11, 2025

Here’s an early look at the Material 3 Expressive changes headed to the Google app (APK teardown)

The Google app on Android is undergoing a visual refresh with the beta release of version 16.22.44, featuring design updates aligned with Material 3 Expressive language. Key changes include a translucent gradient background for the status bar, a redesigned thicker and more rounded progress bar, and dynamic tabs that will hide during scrolling. A new "Refresh" button will also be introduced under the search bar, although it is not yet functional. These updates aim to enhance user experience and interactivity within the app.