Google Messages Material 3 Expressive redesign comes to search, image viewer, more

Abner Li | Jun 6 2025 - 5:58 pm PT

After debuting in the beta, including the media viewer and search experience.

The Material 3 Expressive redesign of the search page is widely rolled out for beta Google Messages users across all phones. Google Messages switches from the 4×2 grid to a 2×4 layout that’s easier to tap. Meanwhile, conversation and contact search results are placed in cards.

Old vs. new

Curiously, these other redesigns are only widely rolled out on Samsung devices, which have a specific Google Messages variant.

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The Start chat screen places everything in a container, including the “To” field and all contacts. “Create group” now spans the entire width of the screen. When you select a contact, it switches from a rounded rectangle to the pill, which frequently occurs in M3E.

Following the gallery + camera, Google has revamped both how images appear in a thread and the fullscreen viewer. The former sees images sent at the same time grouped together, while the latter no longer shows fullscreen images. The background is now blurred, while you see a sliver of the last and next images. Controls at the bottom let you quickly react.