Google : designing Android’s N home and navigation buttons

The appearance of the navigation bar in Android N on Google’s next Nexus phones, Marlin and Sailfish, when they launch – and possibly all devices using the stock navbar in Android N. According to a solid source, Google’s newest Nexuses might get a navbar do-over, yet it remains unclear as of now if the new design we’re seeing here will be accessible to all devices running N or only Google’s in-house Nexus brand. 

Confidence level 

We rate this talk a 7 out of 10 confidence dimension. The source here is one that has been solid in the past, and the nature of the evidence they have given is, in its context, compelling. Notwithstanding, we feel committed to subtract points for the following reasons. 

We currently come up short on a corroborating source for this information. 

Google can change things late in the design process for Android, or, as I like to say:Google gonna Google. So, while this new design might be the plan at this moment, when the new Nexus phones are released and Android N is finalized, it’s possible the “plan” will change. 

The evidence 

According to our source, the new multi-shaded home button does animate in some fashion when long-pressed, with the various colors expanding in their corresponding directions until they all record out horizontally. I know – it’s not actually easy to visualize, however stuff happens. As you can see, all they keys are also now hazy – an interesting change. 

The sum total of what we have is the above picture that we can share with you, at any rate for the time being. We don’t know whether this design will be a launch exclusive to the new Marlin and Sailfish phones, if all Nexuses will get it as a major aspect of Android N, or even on the off chance that it will be a piece of AOSP and accessible to all Android devices running N. I would assume in any event that all Nexus devices with navigation keys that are receiving the update to N will get the new treatment above, however again, we can’t be certain now. 

Final thoughts 

A noteworthy change to the design of the home button is bound to be divisive, however realistically, will have minimal functional effect on how you use your gadget. All things considered, redesigns are always controversial, especially when so many… colors are involved. 

Home button with increasingly dynamic animation may bode well for launching Google Now On Tap specifically, as an approach to brand the experience as something distinctly Google. It also remains unknown to us now if this new design will be highlighted as a major aspect of AOSP, or on the off chance that it will be an experience unique to Nexus and Pixel devices going ahead.

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