Drive has kept its look consistent for many years now, but Google is on a roll as of late when it comes to redesigning its core apps and services. Docs and Sheets have already gotten the same treatment, which included an updated look for their desktop, mobile web and app versions. But you know what is really cool? Seeing a further tweaked redesign come to Drive on Android tablets in particular.
This is part of Google’s aim to bring all of their solutions under the same design philosophy. The campaign initially started when Material You was introduced on Android 12. It began with stock ‘droid apps and settings, but now we’re seeing this extend beyond Google’s OS.
A quick comparison between the two versions of Drive on Android tablets.
But what has exactly changed with Drive? Well, before this redesign, the navigation bar — a series of quick-access buttons that take users to different sections of Drive — has been moved from the bottom of the screen to the left side. At first glance, this appears similar to the desktop version of Drive, but after a detailed inspection, we can see that it’s not a simple copy-paste job.
The design has been carefully crafted in a way, which makes more sense on a bigger, yet still mobile screen. There is a clear focus on contrast and clarity, which is boosted further by the implementation of color accents. Users have also been granted the ability to collapse the now left-sided navigation panel, so that they can focus on browsing.
This is an expected, but welcomed update that will likely be most appreciated by productivity enthusiasts. Sure, Drive was useful before, but now users on tablets can see more files, which enables them to interact with them faster and that is always a win.
