Since the recent update of Android 16, Pixels have a new theme

  • symbols are less geometric and hard
  • some elements are rounded squares, others are round
  • the theme is generally very dark
  • the top panel is not visible by default
  • the battery looks very different, kinda like on iOS
  • the drawers have a blurry background instead of solid colors
  • the “recent apps” overview displays the app name in the top left corner of the preview window, instead of a round icon on top
  • icons and buttons in apps like GCam are also changed
Here are the screenshots

Generally the theme is way more complex and distracting and has quite some inconsistencies.

While I would like blur, the minimalist side of me is happy not to have it.

The current material theme with lots of high-contrast elements is pretty Google-specific I feel and can be seen as ugly. The new one is way more abstract and in a way pleasing.

I wonder if this is one of the proprietary Pixel additions, or if this will be the default for AOSP too?