Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Google App for iOS Updated With Material Design, Maps Integration

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,622
39,500



Google is in the process of updating all of its apps with its new Material Design interface guidelines, and as of today, the Google app for iOS has been updated with the new look. Material Design, which Google says is based on ink and paper, uses grid-based layouts, responsive animations, and depth effects to create clean, touchable interface elements.

Along with adding new Material Design animations, the Google app has been updated to take advantage of the larger screens on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and it now displays bigger photos in image search.

Google's update includes more than just design changes, as the app has been completely rebuilt. There's a new "Google" button that lets users search with just one tap anywhere in the app, and Google Maps integration has been added, letting users check out interactive maps and Google Street View within the app. A new "recents" button is also designed to let users keep track of the searches they've conducted.

googleupdate.jpg
Introducing the new Google app
Completely rebuilt to bring you the best of Google:
- Recents--see & return to your recently visited pages
- Google button--start a new search with just one tap
- Google Maps--explore interactive maps, nearby places & Street View right inside the app (for iPhone)

New look and feel:
- Beautiful new Material Design animations
- Bigger photos in image search
-Looks great on the new iPhone 6 & 6 Plus
Click to expand...
Google can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Google App for iOS Updated With Material Design, Maps Integration
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/12/11/google-app-for-ios-material-design/
Google has really struck gold with Material Design. Their apps look great and have become more enjoyable to use. That's not easy to do.

I can't wait for Gmail and Google Calendar to be redesigned and released.
 
Nunyabinez said:
Serious question. Why would I want this rather than just using Google in Safari?
Click to expand...

Well, I use Safari for everything, but I hate the fact that when on Google and looking for images, I can't zoom on them, this app has that ability, so when browsing images I can zoom.
 
rwilliams said:
Google has really struck gold with Material Design. Their apps look great and have become more enjoyable to use. That's not easy to do.

I can't wait for Gmail and Google Calendar to be redesigned and released.
Click to expand...

The Calendar app can't come soon enough! Using Google Calendar on iOS has been nothing but a massive frustration for me:

* Default iOS Calendar: Does not handle invites and does not allow me set notifications per account. Thanks, Google, for nuking Exchange support. This used to work so well.
* Fantastical: Relies on iOS syncing the calendar, adds two times to every event I create
* Sunrise: Uses a proprietary invite system, caused me quite a few problems
* Calendars by Readdle: Does not appear to handle invites
* Gmail: Allows response to invites but terrible app overall
* Inbox: Great app, currently does not handle calendar invites at all

And to add to all of that:

* iCloud calendars don't handle invites well at all, can't accept updates to events using native apps. Whole pile of cross-platform invite issues here.
* Built in 'Birthdays' calendar neglects anniversaries. Google's Birthday calendar has both but does not have any event notifications set for them.

Head, meet wall.
 
Last edited:
nikicampos said:
Well, I use Safari for everything, but I hate the fact that when on Google and looking for images, I can't zoom on them, this app has that ability, so when browsing images I can zoom.
Click to expand...

Well, it might be worth taking a look. I wasn't excited about having to have multiple apps instead of just using Google Drive, but if it really has additional functionality it my be valuable.
 
A much better and clean looking design. Especially when looking at the eyesore that is iOS 7 and 8.
 
I've switched to DuckDuckGo searching, ever since iOS 8 allowed us to use that default search provider.

No ads or tracking mechanism for the government. lol
 
Rogifan said:
So basically material design is let's add drop shadow everywhere.
Click to expand...

No, it's let's add subtile drop shadows everywhere. Those things that help with contrast and depth. Visual design 101 that some folks chose to forget about (for a while). :)
 
fivedots said:
The Calendar app can't come soon enough! Using Google Calendar on iOS has been nothing but a massive frustration for me:

* Default iOS Calendar: Does not handle invites and does not allow me set notifications per account. Thanks, Google, for nuking Exchange support. This used to work so well.
* Fantastical: Relies on iOS syncing the calendar, adds two times to every event I create
* Sunrise: Uses a proprietary invite system, caused me quite a few problems
* Calendars by Readdle: Does not appear to handle invites
* Gmail: Allows response to invites but terrible app overall
* Inbox: Great app, currently does not handle calendar invites at all

And to add to all of that:

* iCloud calendars don't handle invites well at all, can't accept updates to events using native apps. Whole pile of cross-platform invite issues here.
* Built in 'Birthdays' calendar neglects anniversaries. Google's Birthday calendar has both but does not have any event notifications set for them.

Head, meet wall.
Click to expand...

That sounds frustrating... for what it's worth, I use Fantastical and (to a lesser extent) iOS Calendar, linked to my two Google calendars, and don't really have those issues. I wonder if you can tweak some stuff?
 
Simplicated said:
Yet still none of their apps supports the standard swipe back gesture that has been around since iOS 7. I passionately hate their apps because of that.
Click to expand...
I use the Google app daily and the swipe down gesture is a lot worse than not having the swipe back one. 9 times out of 10, it brings the iPhone's notification center down instead of whatever it's supposed to do in Google's app.
 
doug in albq said:
No, it's let's add subtile drop shadows everywhere. Those things that help with contrast and depth. Visual design 101 that some folks chose to forget about (for a while). :)
Click to expand...

I would kill for a little shadow contrast in iOS 8 and Yosemite. Light grey on white only goes so far.
 
Nunyabinez said:
Serious question. Why would I want this rather than just using Google in Safari?
Click to expand...

Never mind "why use this over Google in Safari", why don't they build this into Chrome? They seem to have a huge amount of overlap anyway.
 
mpavilion said:
That sounds frustrating... for what it's worth, I use Fantastical and (to a lesser extent) iOS Calendar, linked to my two Google calendars, and don't really have those issues. I wonder if you can tweak some stuff?
Click to expand...

Actually...I think I just narrowed down my problem. The two sets of times are local and GMT. That makes sense. I wonder if there's a way I can disable the GMT display.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back