Google Chat gets a fresh coat of Material You paint on its floating tab bar

Key Takeaways

• Google Chat updates include a tweaked floating bottom bar with Material You aesthetics for a seamless visual experience on your device.
• The navigation bar now features a pill-like shape, wider view, and Dynamic Color background that shifts based on your device's color scheme.
• A separate Gemini feature provides a summary of missed conversations in active group chats, making it easier to catch up without scrolling through multiple messages.

Google Chat is going through a glow-up right now, and the dev team has set its sights on the floating bottom bar for a bit of Material You magic. This new-style navigation bar first entered the scene around this time last year as part of another Google redesign, but now looks a bit more seamless thanks to its most recent aesthetic bump.

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Get a consistent visual experience on your phone

There are two main elements to this visual update, and they were both spotted in Google's announcement post for a new AI feature (via 9to5Google).

The first is a change in the current design of the navigation bar. The previous version just held four icons plus a button to create a new message, and it highlighted your currently viewed tab with a light blue circle. That circle has been changed to a pill-like shape and the bar is now slightly wider than it previously was. While this does block more of the screen, the overall look and feel fits in much better with Google's other navigation bars.

Source: 9to5Google

The second change is the color itself. The background is now a Dynamic Color element, which means it will shift based on the overall color scheme of your device. It stands out more clearly against the background of Google Chat and is a lot easier on the eyes than before. The final icon has also swapped from the previous @ symbol to a series of three dots. Overall, the change is an improvement that creates a more seamless feel throughout Google Chat.

Google Chat's new Gemini feature will catch you up on conversations

This change was part of a much larger announcement to demonstrate Gemini's capabilities across Google Chat. If you're in a particularly active group chat and miss a lot (who hasn't been there?), then you can long-press a thread and Gemini will provide three bullet points to summarize everything you've missed. It's a lot easier than trying to catch up on 30+ messages while your friends debate the nuances of whether a hot dog is a sandwich. If you're on the desktop version of Google Chat, there is a Summarize button that appears when you hover over a conversation that will do the same thing as a long-press.