Get rid of "material design" before being too late

[Citizen Coyote]

This reminds me of when the first screen shots of Blizzard's PC game Diablo 3 were released, and people complained that it was "too colorful," "not gritty," "cartoony," and had "ruined the game," usually in less polite language.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion that Material Design has ruined Android, but given the generally positive media reviews of MD since the Android L preview release, I think it's safe to say you're in the minority and MD is here to stay for the life of Lollipop. Thankfully, you're on an Android device, so you can change much of how your device looks through icons, themes, and even ROMs if you care to learn the inner workings of your device. And hey, if you're lucky perhaps Android M will tone it down (like how Jellybean toned down the Tron aspect of Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich).

I wouldn't be upset if Santa Google dropped a dark theme version of MD down my phone's chimney in the coming months, however.

 

[LeSaint]

This:

So to simplify...
You don't like it so no one else should either?

 

[anrdoider]

You know, when its a matter of taste, sometimes it happen that a lot of people are attracted by the aesthetics of ugly. Common sens use to revert this to normal because those are no more then the others.

for Coyote: I would trust more the public opinion than some journalist review. Just look how many people bought an iPhone because they LIKE it not because of specifications.

 

[cbobb123]

You know, when its a matter of taste, sometimes it happen that a lot of people are attracted by the aesthetics of ugly. Common sens use to revert this to normal because those are no more then the others.

You are mistaking opinions with facts.... Just stop.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Golfdriver97]

It's hard to get rid of something when the OS is controlled by Google. If you don't want the update, you can root/ROM your device, install a custom recovery, etc.

The thing to remember is, if Google stuck with Holo, there would be as many people saying that a refresh was needed, and it was.

soon we have to type "call Someone" in some dark command line to call someone.

I am not inclined to agree. Windows 3.1 was horrible in both aesthetics and operation, and that statement alone is for DOS commands; but here is an app that will do command lines: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...s?id=jackpal.androidterm&hl=en&token=Lh7wAUyn

 

[Premium1]

Only thing I am not a huge fan of is the white background in the app drawer. But even with that, still does not look as bad as some of the other skins out there, especially samsung's touchwiz.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Only thing I am not a huge fan of is the white background in the app drawer. But even with that, still does not look as bad as some of the other skins out there, especially samsung's touchwiz.

White background is negated by a different launcher. Nova has a transparent drawer.

 

[Aquila]

I personally rather like Lolli, but that's not the important thing to me. Here's what I'd love to see from Google:

Have the lead designers from every app team get together and agree on a unified theme for apps - preferably following the guidelines that the Android team is laying out.

 

[mansoorkhan386]

its looking nice i like it..

 

[salmanahmad]

No. Material Design is arguably one of the best things that has ever happened to Android. Period.

Also no, Material Design is not the same as Metro UI on Windows Phone or iOS 8. The animations have a purpose, so do the colours and shadows.

The applications created with Material Design are nothing short of amazing, if implemented correctly. YouTube,

Material Design will bring consistency throughout Android and put it on par with the cohesiveness of iOS and Windows Phone, while still being more aesthetically pleasing and functional.



Having been introduced to this brave new design and loving it I could never go back to HOLO, and Metro UI of Windows Phone doesn't even come close.

 

[chezm]

Im a big fan of the material design for 5.0, but I'm also a fan of the iOS7/8 design as well. The only thing i wish 5.0 offered was a Dark theme, as well as more additional themes so the experience could be further customized.

 

[anrdoider]

I fail to see what is so great in the above picture design. I would also say that the term "aesthetically pleasing" is a bit forced.
The similar colorless icons require an additional (unconscious) effort to understand them every time you access them.
Not to mention the totally unintuitive representation of home and menu actions - a circle and a square.

EDIT: I have a suggestion, it can be made even simpler, as everybody knows what the three buttons do, why not to put three white dots instead of a triangle, a circle and a square, it will be even simpler. Just imagine:

YOUTUBE
HERE

o o o

 

[salmanahmad]

I fail to see what is so great in the above picture design. I would also say that the term "aesthetically pleasing" is a bit forced.
The similar colorless icons require an additional (unconscious) effort to understand them every time you access them.
Not to mention the totally unintuitive representation of home and menu actions - a circle and a square.

EDIT: I have a suggestion, it can be made even simpler, as everybody knows what the three buttons do, why not to put three white dots instead of a triangle, a circle and a square, it will be even simpler. Just imagine:

YOUTUBE
HERE

o o o

When home screen buttons have a limited number of things that they can do, no matter how the icons look people will understand the way they work and I like the new Playstation style buttons.

The new animations give you a sense of direction helping you navigate around the UI. I find the visual tweaks great, plus design has never been something that can please everyone.

 

[Soylent_Green]

I love the Material Design.

 

[radicchio]

For me, personally, I dislike the out-of-the-box look of Lollipop. But that's why I'm happy to have Nova Prime. I know I will still have to deal with Lollipop's design choices, but at least my home screens that I will be using constantly will be acceptable. And definitely new icons. Funny how we can all look at the same thing and see something different. When I look at most of the screens in Lollipop I think "childish." Others see "refreshing," "updated," or "minimalistic." It's just individual taste.

I am more concerned about how the OS works, especially the way the sound settings are implemented. I like being able to tap one widget and have my phone totally muted, turned to vibrate, or sound on (at a volume of my choice). In my opinion, that should not have been taken away.

 

[Gekko]

i'm not a fan of Material Design either. i hate when things are done just for the sake of doing them or to appear different or innovative. and i think Matias Duarte is overrated.

 

[salmanahmad]

i'm not a fan of Material Design either. i hate when things are done just for the sake of doing them or to appear different or innovative. and i think Matias Duarte is overrated.

Android needed a visual overhaul, and I think the wide majority of people appreciate Material Design.

Maybe there should have been a black theme added, but for the most part I don't miss much about the older HOLO.

 

[Gekko]

Android needed a visual overhaul, and I think the wide majority of people appreciate Material Design.

Maybe there should have been a black theme added, but for the most part I don't miss much about the older HOLO.

Change just for change's sake is no good. KitKat wasn't broken.

 

[anrdoider]

Simplicity and clarity are a must indeed but not with the cost of visual appealing. Gradients are nice, high res icons are nice, shadows are nice.
If I was Apple I would simply put the two interfaces one next to other with a text like: "why you would ever buy this?"

The more I am using "material design" the more I figure out that it also have some functional flaws probably forced by (otherwise very consistent) guidelines. I could barely find where the "Street View" is in the new Maps, also those "Route" buttons look like labels, nothing like ever pushing them.

 

[salmanahmad]

We bought two of them off EBay (Thanks, Mr. Anonymous!) and I had to drive two hours both ways to get them at 1am. Fun times.

It was a good thing we did it that way, though, because we don't live in a 3G area and they wouldn't have been sold at local stores.

KitKat wasn't broken, agreed. But there are tons of people in the industry and tons of haters that said Android wasn't as beautiful or polished as iOS or Windows Phone.

In terms of apps I might have agreed the HOLO theme was getting very old and boring, and Material Design with Lollipop brings the new 60 FPS animations so the experience has become more buttery.

My only complaints would be to bring back a 'HOLO' mode for those people that liked darker backgrounds and fixing the RAM consumption issues.