Posted by Chiara Chiappini – Android Developer Relations Engineer, and Kevin Hufnagle – Android Technical Writer

This post is part of Wear OS Spotlight Week. Today, we’re focusing on creating modern, premium designs using the Material 3 Expressive design system.

When crafting the user interface for your Wear OS app or tile, consider how your experience expresses your brand while respecting the performance guidelines for watches, particularly battery use. With the new Material 3 Expressive design system, you can build performant UIs that truly shine on a wearable device.

A gallery of Material 3 Expressive experiences on Wear OS

This blog post walks you through the key principles of this new design system and how you can implement them to create more engaging and intuitive user experiences.

What’s new in Material 3 Expressive?

As mentioned in our announcement at I/O earlier this year and our unveiling of Google Pixel Watch 4 last week, Material 3 Expressive introduces several fundamental improvements from previous Wear OS design guidance, which aim to give your apps and tiles more personality and help users feel confident that they’re successfully taking quick actions on a round screen.

The key design principles include the following:

• Embrace the round form factor: Use the full screen with components like the edge-hugging button to complement the watch’s form factor. This makes the UI feel well-suited for a user’s wrist.
• Apply the proper screen layout on each surface: Take advantage of the new layouts and components—such as the 3-slot tile PrimaryLayout and the TransformingLazyColumn – to create more consistent, glanceable, and fluid user experiences for tiles and apps.
• Elevate your experience: The dynamic color system provides a richer palette for more vibrant themes in apps. Variable fonts allow for dynamic, customizable typography.
• Show off expressive animations: Light up your Wear OS experience with meaningful movement, such as spring animations and shape morphing.

Embrace the round form factor

Material 3 Expressive for Wear OS differentiates itself from systems designed for rectangular screens, offering a framework of components that are designed specifically for round screens, using the entire circular canvas to its full potential.


The edge-hugging button’s animated entrance and shape emphasizes the round form factor

One of the most noticeable examples of this is the edge-hugging button. It features a curved bottom edge that perfectly complements the round display. It’s a small but significant detail that helps make Material 3 Expressive feel right at home on your users’ wrists.

Apply the proper screen layout on each surface

Apps

For apps that let users scroll through content, Material 3 Expressive introduces the TransformingLazyColumn component. It provides built-in support for expressive and fluid scrolling animations that follow the side edges of the display. We’ve also added a new ScrollIndicator that provides a clear visual cue of the user’s position within a list. (This appears automatically when you use ScreenScaffold.) This, combined with the fluid animations of the TransformingLazyColumn, creates a more intuitive and engaging scrolling experience.


When using a TransformingLazyColumn, elements appear to get smaller as they get close to the top and bottom edge of the screen

For apps that don’t require scrolling, such as media players or confirmation dialogs, Material 3 Expressive provides templates that are optimized for glanceability and focus. These layouts rely on breakpoints and pagination to present a single task or set of controls to the user, minimizing distractions.

Tiles

The Material 3 Expressive design system also lets designers and developers create tiles that are both functional and visually engaging:


Tiles offer at-a-glance information and support quick actions to indicate progress on a task, such as drinking more water

Tiles can show a static message about a recent update, invite users to get started, and show progress of an ongoing activity related to fitness, media, and more.

The new 3-slot tile layout is designed to work for each of these use cases, as well as across a range of screen sizes, to provide a clear and consistent structure for your tile’s content.

Elevate your experience

Give your app or tile a signature look using extended color palettes and custom typography.

Color

The updated color system in Material 3 Expressive supports more colors—such as tertiary colors—to let you better reflect your brand’s personality and create a more immersive user experience. Use this color system to create themes that perfectly capture the mood of your brand, whether that’s a calming meditation app, the high-energy vibe of a fitness tracker, or something in between.

With Material 3 Expressive, apps and tiles can either follow the dynamic system color or stick to the brand colors. We especially recommend following the dynamic system colors in your tiles, for higher cohesion with other tiles. You can embrace dynamic colors in your app as well, for instance exposing settings to the user.


Dynamic color theme derived from the user-selected watch face (left), applied to a tile (right)

Typography

Typography is another key element of expressive design. Material 3 Expressive moves beyond static font weights and styles and embraces the versatility of variable fonts.

A single font contains adjustable axes, including weight and width. With Material 3 Expressive, you can tap into these customized looks to create dynamic and delightful typographic experiences.


A font that uses an adjusted weight. If desired, you can also use a different width to s t r e t c h the text.

Show off expressive animations

A foundational pillar of Material 3 Expressive’s animation capabilities is the concept of fluid motion, made possible primarily through shape morphing.


When the “9” button is pressed, the “8” button moves out of the way to accommodate the expanded size of the “9” button.

Components no longer have to be rigid – they can now dynamically change their shape in response to user input! Buttons, in particular, can transform shape and size to achieve eye-catching springy animation effects and provide more visual contrast between states such as “play” and “pause.” This not only makes the UI more visually interesting but also helps in guiding the user’s attention and providing clear feedback.

An experience that’s ready for prime time!

By adopting the Material 3 Expressive design system, you can create Wear OS apps and tiles that feel more dynamic, personal, and intuitive. By applying principles like rounded components, screen layouts, richer color palettes, and spring animations, you can build experiences that feel perfectly designed for use on a user’s wrist.

To get you inspired, we’ve included some examples from some of Google’s apps below:


Edge-hugging button for an incoming call using the Phone app (left); toggle buttons in the Alarms app (right)

At-a-glance actions within the tile for the Google Maps app (left); progress of ongoing audio playback in the Media Controls (right)

Get started with Material 3 Expressive for Wear OS

To learn more, explore the following resources:

• Recently-updated design documentation
• Design kits for apps and tiles in Figma
• Codelabs for Compose on Wear OS and Tiles on Wear OS
• Best practices for migrating app UI to Material 3 Expressive and migrating tiles to Material 3 Expressive
• Sample apps on GitHub

We can’t wait to see the designs that you create and share with the Wear OS community!

Posted by Chiara Chiappini – Android Developer Relations Engineer, and Kevin Hufnagle – Android Technical Writer

Wear OS is rapidly expanding its presence in the market, presenting a unique and significant opportunity for developers. With a growing number of users wearing and interacting with their smartwatches daily, building for Wear OS allows you to reach an even broader audience of Android users and boost your app’s engagement more than ever before. The introduction of new hardware like the Pixel Watch 4 is a key driver of this momentum, enabling developers to bring premium Wear OS experiences to this expanding user base.

This week, we’re putting a special focus on Wear OS: Welcome to Wear OS Spotlight Week!

Throughout the week, we’ll dive into the different Wear OS surfaces where you can develop on-the-watch experiences. This blog post will be updated throughout the week with links to new announcements and resources, so check back here daily for updates.

Day 1: Material 3 Expressive on Wear OS

Monday, August 25, 2025

Learn how you can build beautiful and tailored Wear OS apps and tiles using the Material 3 Expressive Design language and Jetpack libraries for Wear OS.

To further explore the key principles and main features of Wear OS’s new design system, consult our updated design guidance on the Android developer documentation website.

Day 2: Build apps, tiles, and complication on Wear OS

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Discover how to build engaging experiences across Wear OS’s surfaces, including apps, tiles, complications, and notifications. Learn how to create quick, glanceable content using familiar tools like Jetpack Compose and the ProtoLayout library, all while leveraging the beautiful new Material 3 Expressive design system.

Next, understand how to build beautiful and effective Wear OS tiles using the Material 3 Expressive design system and a new collection of resources.

Dive deep into building complications that support data sources which helps you show useful information to the user directly on the watch face, and can drive engagement with your app.

Lastly, find out how Todoist has applied the latest updates on Wear OS including new integrations with Material 3 Expressive and Credential Manager. Improvements like these have helped Todoist become the world’s top task and time management app.

Day 3: Watch faces

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Explore the wonderful world of watch faces! The Watch Face Push API for Wear OS 6 is here to unlock a world of dynamic watch faces. This powerful tool lets you create your own marketplace experience for the watch faces you create. Dive in and explore how you can promote your engaging watch faces today! .

Next, discover how Amoledwatchfaces, a leading creator, successfully migrated to the Watch Face Format for their 190+ watch faces. This switch led to faster development, improved battery life, and more customizable designs.

Lastly, learn about Watch Face Designer, a new Figma plugin that’s available for watch face designers and developers to create watch faces with greater ease.

Day 4: Credential Manager on Wear OS

Thursday, August 28, 2025

Discover how to streamline authentication on your Wear OS app by using Credential Manager.

We’ve got some great new resources to help you learn how everything works, and to help you get started crafting your own implementation:

• Watch our Credential Manager video guide and read about how Credential Manager on Wear OS revolutionizes user authentication to learn more about implementation points and helpful insights from our development team.
• To see how real applications are using Credential Manager, watch this video showcasing how Dashlane is using the Credential Provider interface to manage credentials for other applications.
• Finally, explore our new sample app to see how you can implement this modern, unified authentication flow.

Day 5: #AskAndroid

Friday, August 29, 2025

Join us for a live Q&A on Wear OS! Ask your questions at Android Developers on X and Android by Google at Linkedin using the tag #AskAndroid.

Explore and create your own experiences with Wear OS

Explore the latest updates for Wear OS, and delve into the wealth of resources shared during the week. We’re excited to see the results of your explorations with building apps, tiles and watch faces for Wear OS.

Happy coding!

Posted by Fahd Imtiaz – Senior Product Manager and Kseniia Shumelchyk – Engineering Manager, Developer Relations

This week at Made by Google, we introduced the new suite of Pixel devices, including the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Pixel Watch 4. These devices are more than just an evolution in hardware; they are built to showcase the latest updates in Android, creating new possibilities for you to build experiences that are more helpful, personal, and adaptive than before.

Let’s explore what this moment means for your apps and how you can start building today.

Give your app more room to shine on foldable and large screens

The new Pixel 10 Pro Fold represents the next step in mobile computing, inviting you to think beyond a single screen. With a stunning 8-inch inner display that unfolds to create an immersive, large screen experience and a fully-capable 6.4-inch outer display, your apps have a powerful and flexible stage to shine. Its advanced durability and all-day battery life make this form factor ready for everyday use, raising user expectations for premium app experiences.

Building a truly adaptive app is how you unlock the full potential of this hardware. On the new Pixel 10 Pro Fold, users will multitask with enhanced Split Screen and drag-and-drop, or use hands-free tabletop modes for entertainment. Your app must support resizability and both portrait and landscape orientations to deliver the seamless, dynamic layouts these new experiences demand. Following the best practices on adaptive development is the key to providing an optimal experience on every screen and in every posture.

To help you build these adaptive experiences, we offer a suite of powerful tools. You can use existing tools like Jetpack Window Manager and the Compose Adaptive Layouts Libraries today. And coming soon to beta, Compose Adaptive Layout Library 1.2 will introduce new adaption strategies like Levitate and Reflow, plus support for Large and Extra Large width Window Class Sizes.

The goal is to not be confined to a single screen, but build one app that works great everywhere, from phones and foldables to tablets and other large screens. This is your opportunity to expand your app’s reach and deliver the dynamic experiences users now expect. With the tools at your fingertips, you can start building for every screen today. Learn how you can unlock your app’s full potential with adaptive development at developer.android.com/adaptive-apps.

Bring your most expressive apps to the wrist

The new Pixel Watch 4 is here, and it’s the first smartwatch built to showcase the full power of Material 3 Expressive on Wear OS 6. This is where the vision for the platform truly comes to life, allowing you to build stunning, modern apps and tiles without compromising on performance. With this release, you no longer have to choose between beautiful animations and battery life; with Wear OS 6, you can build experiences that are beautiful, helpful, and powerful, all at once.

To get that modern look, you can use the new Material 3 Expressive libraries for Compose on Wear OS, which provide powerful components like the TransformingLazyColumnuid lists and the EdgeButton to create UIs that feel natively built for the wrist.

This focus on design naturally extends to the centerpiece of the user’s experience, the watch face itself. To give you more creative control, we’ve introduced version 4 of the Watch Face Format, which unlocks possibilities like fluid, animated state transitions and lets users select their own photos for the background. And to help developers create their own watch face marketplaces, we’ve introduced the Watch Face Push API. We’ve partnered with well-known watch face developers – including Facer, TIMEFLIK, WatchMaker, and Pujie – who are bringing their unique watch face experiences to the new devices that users can already get today.

All of this is built on a more reliable and efficient foundation, with watches updating to Wear OS 6 seeing up to a 10% improvement in battery life and quicker app launches. This gives you the confidence to use these new creative tools, knowing your app will perform beautifully. Start building apps for the wrist using the resources and guidance at developer.android.com/wear.

Ready to build for every screen today?

The opportunities for your app are bigger than ever, and you can start today. See how your app performs across screen sizes by using the resizable emulator in Android Studio, and explore our large-screen design gallery for inspiration.

For your wearables, the best way to begin is by upgrading your UI with the new Material 3 Expressive libraries for Compose on Wear OS and exploring the engaging experiences you can build with the Watch Face Push API. Finally, use the Wear OS 6 emulator to test and verify your app’s experience.

You can find all the resources you need, including documentation, samples, and guides at developer.android.com/adaptive-apps and developer.android.com/wear.

We can’t wait to see what you develop next!

Posted by J. Eason – Director, Product Management

The next generation of foldable and wearable devices from Samsung has arrived. Yesterday at Galaxy Unpacked, Samsung introduced the new Galaxy Z Fold7, Galaxy Z Flip7, and Galaxy Watch8 series. For Android developers, these devices represent an exciting new opportunity to create engaging and adaptive experiences that reach even more users on their favorite screens.

With new advancements in adaptive development and the launch of Wear OS 6, it has never been a better time to build for the expanding Android device ecosystem. Learn more about what these new devices mean for you and how you can get started.

Unfold your app’s adaptive potential on Samsung’s newest Galaxy devices

The launch of the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7 on Android 16 means users are about to experience your app in more dynamic and versatile ways than before. This creates an opportunity to captivate them with experiences that adaptively respond to every fold and flip. And preparing your app for these features is easier than you think. Building adaptive apps isn’t just about rewriting your code, but about making strategic enhancements that ensure a seamless experience across screens.

Google and Samsung have collaborated to bring a more seamless and powerful desktop windowing experience to large screen devices and phones with connected displays in Android 16 across the Android ecosystem. These advancements will enhance Samsung DeX, starting with the new Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, and also extend to the wider Android ecosystem.

To help you meet this moment, we’ve built a foundation of development tools to simplify creating compelling adaptive experiences. Create adaptive layouts that reflow automatically with the Compose Adaptive Layouts library and guide users seamlessly across panes with Jetpack Navigation 3. Make smarter top-level layout decisions using the newly expanded Window Size Classes. Then, iterate and validate your design in Android Studio, from visualizing your UI with Compose Previews to generating robust tests with natural language using Journeys with Gemini.

Build for a more personal and expressive era with Wear OS 6

The next chapter for wearables begins with the new Samsung Galaxy Watch8 series becoming the first device to feature Wear OS 6, the most power-efficient version of our wearable platform yet. This update is focused on giving you the tools to create more personal experiences without compromising on battery life. With version 4 of the Watch Face Format, you can unlock new creative possibilities like letting users customize their watch faces by selecting their own photos or adding fluid transitions to the display. And, to give you more flexibility in distribution, the Watch Face Push API allows you to create and manage your own watch face marketplace.

Beyond the watch face, you can provide a streamlined experience to users by embracing an improved always-on display and adding passkey support to your app with the Credential Manager API, which is now available on Wear OS.

Check out the latest changes to get started and test your app for compatibility using the Wear OS 6 emulator.

Get started building across screens, from foldables to wearables

With these new devices from Samsung, there are more reasons than ever to build experiences that excite users on their favorite Android screens. From building fully adaptive apps for foldables to creating more personal experiences on Wear OS, the tools are in your hands to create for the future of Android.

Explore all the resources you’ll need to build adaptive experiences at developer.android.com/adaptive-apps. And, start building for Wear OS today by checking out developer.android.com/wear and visiting the Wear OS gallery for inspiration.