Most Android 12 phones will soon receive the Material You makeover

Dynamic colors and a wave of new Google-centric design changes are on their way to most Android phones. First unveiled at I/O last year, Google’s Material You appeared to be Android’s most dramatic redesign in years and offered users a wave of new customization and accessibility features. Users could tweak their phone’s color palette, adjust the placement of widgets and make other adjustments for aesthetic and accessibility purposes. But Google’s Material You was only available for Pixel phones and a few Samsung devices.

Soon though Material You will be available for a much wider swath of new Android 12 phones, including those by Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, realme, Xiaomi and Tecno. The exact dates haven't been announced just yet and will depend on the manufacturer, but the release windows are likely to occur within the next few months. The new Galaxy S22 and S22 Ultra, both unveiled by Samsung this week, will include Material You.

While cosmetic enhancements are nice, Material You also makes it far easier for Android phones to be integrated into Google’s ecosystem. Color palette selections and other visual changes to the phone's themselves appear across Google’s apps, including Gmail, Meet and Drive. Much of Google’s product library has already gotten a Material You makeover.

In Engadget’s review of Material You and Android 12, we noted that the redesign was easy on the eyes and helped declutter Android’s interface. It also includes a host of quality-of-life changes, including a Privacy Dashboard. That feature breaks down which apps have been granted specific permissions, as well as what kind of data they're able to access.