At I/O 2022, Google announced that it will update over 20 of its first-party apps for large screens in a show of its commitment to the form factor. This will undoubtedly improve the experience for existing owners, and is meant to encourage other developers to do the same. Here’s every Google app on Android that has a tablet update and what’s still to come.
Google apps with tablet UIs
- Reverse chronological order, latest updates at the top
—Google Photos
Google’s premiere tablet app on Android is Google Photos, and this update rolled out in January of 2021. It’s not too different from the web UI. A navigation rail on the left edge means you can see slightly more vertical content, while more tabs can be shown – compared to a bottom bar – without looking cramped. In addition to Photos, Search, Sharing, and Library, you have quick access to On Device, Utilities, Archive, and Trash. One small Material You tweak that Google made in recent months is a pill-shaped indicator to note what tab you’re viewing instead of just highlighting the icon.
At the top of the screen, next to “Google Photos,” is a search bar with rounded corners. When viewing a photo fullscreen, swiping up reveals a right-hand pane, while the overflow in the top-right corner of the viewer shows actions with accompanying icons.
—Google Calendar
I’ve already opined how Google Calendar is my favorite tablet app primarily of the great Day and Schedule views where you see the entire month at the left with a list of events next to it, while illustrations liven up the background. It does not appear that the company is planning any changes.
While there’s obvious reuse from the website, the Calendar team has meaningfully differentiated the app for tablets and that’s surprisingly a rare occurrence for Google.
—Chrome
Chrome on Android tablets is nearly identical to the desktop interface given the use of tab strips and Omnibox layout. There’s also support for multiple windows to aid multitasking.
-Youtube
YouTube is fairly well-optimized for tablets with two-column views throughout, and Google’s I/O preview only showed the player screen. It could always switch to a navigation rail.
-Google Translate
Translate already has the tablet optimizations touted on stage. In general, it’s better for this app to be sparse and have a lot of spacing given its nature as a (physically) shared interface/tool.
—Files by Google
Google apps getting more tablet tweaks
-Youtube music
Google committed to tablet optimizations for YouTube Music — on both Android and iOS — at the start of this year. This started by shrinking cover art in the Home tab so you see more content in carousels (Listen again, Your favorites, Mixed for you, etc.) without having to scroll. The other existing optimization is Now Playing’s two-column view with controls at the left and your Up next queue at the right.
Moving forward, playlists will adopt a similar two-column view as part of a broader overall for that UI. Like YouTube, Music could move to a navigation rail, though it would slightly limit the available horizontal real estate for browsing shelves (and anything under four tabs looks odd for that UI element). Additionally, the image below shows YouTube Music retaining the bottom bar.
—Google Maps (see below)
Maps for Android already has a two-column view, but an upcoming update replaces the full-width bottom bar for one that fits in the left panel.
Future Google tablet app updates
- Google Translate: See above
- maps: See above
- Photos: See above
- Family Link: Instead of a navigation rail, Family Link looks to be using an always-showing navigation drawer.
- Google Home: Centered navigation rail, though it looks ridiculous with just two tabs. A two-column layout could be better.
- gmail: Navigation rail with drawer button at the top to see your folders and labels.
- google tv: Navigation rail, while you can make out the upcoming Highlights news feed as part of that broader Material You redesign.
- messages: Two-column layout, though it’s unclear if the UI shown above is more meant for foldables rather than tablets that require Device pairing, like Messages for web.
- Google One: Navigation drawer with heavy use of cards in the app body.
- Youtube music: See above
- Google Lens: Visual search today on tablets only works in portrait orientation.
- Google Duo: Centralized controls.
- google play: Like Photos, there’s a navigation rail and top search field. Cards are used to show various lists and promotions.
- Google Calculator: Two-column layout
- Google Clock: Navigation rail paired with two-column layout
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