My Android 16 home screen is officially a vibe, thanks to the new system themes

Every time I unlock the screen, my eyes are immediately drawn to the visuals.

Tapping around on my phone has also been a wonderful experience, which is why I can see others arguing that the best Pixel phones are top-tier for their polish and consistency.

Material You has evolved a lot

Custom icons and colors add extra personalization

I didn't realize how boring uniform UI shapes can be. Some icons look too plain and rounded, and just lack personality.

Though there was always the option to buy icon packs and usually install them via third-party launchers, I generally prefer to stick with the default one.

My Pixel 8 on Android 16 gave me the best of both worlds. New icon shapes but with native software support, thanks to Material 3 Expressive.

Material 3 Expressive, based on Material You (more of an evolution), includes a library of shapes; I can choose between star-shaped icons, circles, and even asymmetric designs.

Quiz 8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge Android 16 features

Trivia challenge Think you know Google's boldest Android update yet? Put your knowledge to the test. Features Design System Updates Adaptive Begin 01 / 8 Design What is the name of the major visual design overhaul introduced with Android 16? A Material You 3 B Expressive UI C Material 3 Expressive D Fluid Design Correct! Material 3 Expressive is Google's sweeping new design language debuted with Android 16. It emphasizes bold colors, dynamic motion, and more personalized, emotionally resonant UI elements throughout the system. Not quite. The answer is Material 3 Expressive. Google announced this as a significant evolution of Material You, focusing on bolder visuals, springy animations, and a design philosophy built around emotional engagement with the interface. Continue 02 / 8 Updates Android 16 marked a significant change to Google's release schedule. What was notable about its timing? A It was the first Android release in January B It was released in Q2, breaking the traditional Q3 fall release cycle C It skipped a version number to align with Google Pixel hardware D It was released simultaneously on all Android devices worldwide Correct! Android 16 broke Google's long-standing tradition of a Q3 release, arriving in Q2 instead. This earlier schedule was designed to give developers and manufacturers more lead time before the holiday device season. Not quite. Android 16 was notable for arriving in Q2, earlier than the traditional Q3 fall release window. Google shifted the schedule to better align the platform release with the broader ecosystem's preparation timelines. Continue 03 / 8 Adaptive Which Android 16 feature dynamically adjusts app layouts based on the screen size and orientation of foldable devices? A Responsive Canvas B Adaptive Refresh C Predictive Layouts D Adaptive Refresh Rate UI Correct! Responsive Canvas is Android 16's approach to making apps automatically reflow and adapt their layouts for large screens, foldables, and tablets. It reduces the burden on developers to manually code separate layouts for every screen configuration. Not quite. The answer is Responsive Canvas. This feature is central to Android 16's push for better large-screen and foldable support, intelligently adapting app content so it looks and works great regardless of how the device is folded or oriented. Continue 04 / 8 System Android 16 introduced a new system theme option that draws its color palette from what source? A The user's most recently opened app icon B The user's current wallpaper using Monet engine sampling C A fixed set of Google-curated seasonal palettes D The user's Google account profile photo Correct! Android 16 continues and refines the Monet dynamic theming engine, which samples colors directly from the user's wallpaper to generate a harmonious system-wide color palette. This means your UI tones shift automatically whenever you change your wallpaper. Not quite. Android 16's system theming relies on the Monet engine, which samples the user's wallpaper to produce a cohesive dynamic color palette. This approach, introduced with Material You, ensures the entire system UI feels personalized and visually consistent with your chosen background. Continue 05 / 8 Features What health-related feature did Android 16 introduce natively into the platform for the first time? A Blood oxygen monitoring via camera B Health Connect becoming a core platform API C Built-in sleep tracking through motion sensors D A native step counter widget on the home screen Correct! Android 16 elevated Health Connect from a standalone app to a core platform API, meaning health and fitness data sharing between apps is now a first-class citizen of Android. This makes it easier for developers to build interconnected health experiences. Not quite. The answer is Health Connect becoming a core platform API. By baking Health Connect directly into Android 16, Google ensures that fitness, wellness, and health apps can share data securely and consistently without requiring users to install a separate bridge application. Continue 06 / 8 Features Android 16 introduced improvements to predictive back gesture. What new capability was added? A The ability to cancel a back gesture mid-swipe with a haptic confirmation B A customizable swipe sensitivity slider in settings C Support for custom animations when navigating between apps D Back gesture support for physical keyboard shortcuts Correct! Android 16 refined the predictive back gesture so users can peek at the destination and then cancel by releasing mid-swipe, with haptic feedback confirming the action. This gives users much greater confidence and control when navigating through apps. Not quite. Android 16 added the ability to cancel a back gesture mid-swipe, complete with haptic feedback. This was a key usability improvement to the predictive back system, addressing user frustration about accidentally triggering navigation they didn't intend. Continue 07 / 8 Performance Which under-the-hood improvement in Android 16 was aimed specifically at reducing app startup times? A ART baseline profile pre-installation during app updates B A new Dalvik bytecode compression standard C Background JIT compilation triggered during charging D Mandatory use of the R8 compiler for all Play Store apps Correct! Android 16 expanded the use of ART baseline profiles, which are now pre-installed alongside app updates from the Play Store. This means apps can run optimized native code from the very first launch, dramatically cutting cold start times. Not quite. The answer is ART baseline profile pre-installation during app updates. By bundling optimized profiles with app updates, Android 16 eliminates the warm-up period that previously caused apps to feel sluggish immediately after being updated or installed fresh. Continue 08 / 8 Accessibility What accessibility improvement did Android 16 bring to notifications for users with hearing impairments? A Automatic sign language avatar animations for alert summaries B Flash and vibration notifications that can be customized per app C Real-time live captions embedded directly inside notification banners D A dedicated high-contrast notification shade mode Correct! Android 16 gave users with hearing impairments granular control over flash and vibration alerts on a per-app basis. This means you can assign distinct vibration patterns or camera flash signals to specific apps, making it far easier to identify the source of an alert without sound. Not quite. Android 16 introduced per-app customization of flash and vibration notification alerts. This level of granular control is a meaningful step forward for deaf and hard-of-hearing users, allowing them to distinguish between app alerts through unique tactile or visual patterns. See My Score Challenge Complete Your Score / 8 Thanks for playing! Try Again

The versatility is really fun, and I found myself drawn to ones that looked cloudy and round.

Though I can see others being a bit safer with the UI and picking the rounded icons.

I sometimes opted for this because when I take screenshots of my phone, I don't want the UI to look too chaotic or distracting, as it can divert attention from a guide or tutorial.

Next up were the color palettes. This is where I was really impressed with the visuals. I always thought Pixel phones opted for more muted colors, which I felt was a bit boring.

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But I am not someone who likes extremely bright colors either. I like a nice contrast that blends well.

On the Wallpaper & style settings screen, you can select the Color contrast level. If you need it higher, choose Medium or High, and toggle on Outline text to add a black or white background around text to make it easier to see.

You can choose a range of palettes with lighter themes matched with gradients, or ones that start really dark and get progressively lighter.

Personally, I prefer darker backgrounds with more colorful icons; it's just more aesthetically pleasing to me.

I can also see the appeal of using some tinted pastel colors and matching them with darker UI elements, which I spent some time doing.

But what I like about the colors is that I can fine-tune them. If, for example, I wanted a less "gray" effect on my wallpaper, I could add a completely different color without it looking out of place.

Plus, I prefer darker purples and lilacs, but if I wanted to add green or blue, the engine would do so without making it look out of place.

It almost made me feel like an artist again without worrying about damaging my color combinations.

That's because the Material You theming has always ensured that colors blend well with the Monet Engine.

But, as I have said before, I was worried about my home screen feeling less alive — I've seen Pixel devices with Material You before, and I didn't love it. I know this is integrated on Samsung, and I haven't been able to find a combination I "vibed" with on there.

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But so far, it's been really fun, and I didn't feel too pressured to download too many custom themes to make the colors work.

I can apply palette changes to any wallpaper I have (ironically, I also love the default one, since it keeps the phone's minimalist feel), or add weather effects to make it more animated.

Experimenting more with Material 3 Expressive

I wasted a few good hours customizing my home and lock screen

While this was primarily a tool introduced for developers last year, as a consumer, I was pretty excited to see it in action now that it's baked into Android 16.

I already had fun with the built-in Material You engine, but I found that Material 3 Expressive takes it a step further. It does a good job of matching your mood and can even add more personality to an app's animations.

And that's where the Pixel phone hits a home run for me compared to every other Android device I own — the tactile feel and animations are superior to everything else — just the responsiveness of tapping tiles and expanding my quick settings was a welcome touch.

The extra typography options are cool, but to be honest, I don't actually care for them as much — I like mine to be less curvy and not so bold.

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I did experiment with a few for my Always On Display, but I ended up picking something much less adventurous.

Checking out the Material 3 Expressive options was where I had the most fun, but noticing the subtle differences in UI animation is what truly hooked me.

If you reduce or remove your animations, you won't notice any effects. You will want to turn them back on by using Developer Options, then set the Animator duration scale to 0.5x.

Unfortunately, seeing these animations in action all relies on app developers integrating them naturally. And if you want to get a feel for it, you do need to download apps that support Jetpack Compose, the newest Android UI toolkit, which includes Material 3 Expressive animations by default.

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But of course, Google apps already support this, and if you're a Pixel user, it should be pretty easy to simply log in to the Google Play Store or Gmail to see this — and soon, Android Auto.

But if you're not in love with Google apps, other apps like X, Reddit, and Spotify also support this when interacting with the system UI.

As a result, you should see a lot of neat effects like bouncing and stretching, while you're scrolling and interacting with the UI.

Make your Android phone more you

After owning a few phones at the same time, I realized how important it is for your phone to still feel uniquely yours.

As a primary Samsung user, I was surprised by how long it took me to get into the nitty-gritty of using Good Lock to add more options for my home screen.

For example, I used to hate adding widgets; they looked too blocky and distracting on the wallpaper, and I found that a cluttered or busy-looking home screen deterred me from using it. It took me a while to find a look that I loved.

That's why I have been really enjoying the Pixel UI more; I can still make it colorful while staying minimalistic.

And now, with Material 3 Expressive in the mix, adding more options like weather effects, punchier icon coloring, and asymmetrical shapes, coupled with some simple animations, it elevates my overall mood when using it.