Google Maps is getting a contemporary look on smartwatches, and it’s not ready for Wear OS 6 to do it. The app is now testing a redesigned interface with some customers on Wear OS 5, introducing a bolder, extra trendy format in step with Google’s Materials 3 Expressive design.

Screenshots and video shared with us by Telegram consumer Hardik present a number of UI modifications. Captured on a Galaxy Watch 4 working Maps model 25.23.01.766241648.W, the new look options bigger icons and format decisions that higher swimsuit small round screens. Steadily used actions like “Residence,” “Work,” and “Recents” now seem as colourful modules, whereas navigation modes are introduced as compact drugs with clearer icons.

Right here’s a video of the wearable in use with the new design components:

It’s a noticeable departure from the previous UI, which leaned closely on minimalist icons and black menus. The place earlier variations usually buried choices in stacked lists, the up to date format brings all the things to the floor with greater contact targets, echoing related modifications seen just lately in redesigned Wear OS variations of Gmail and Maintain.

Try these screenshots of the new UI:

Whereas the Maps redesign doesn’t embrace the total theming discovered within the Wear OS 6 developer preview, it nonetheless displays Google’s broader push towards consistency and accessibility throughout its smartwatch apps.

Examine the pictures above to how the interface at present appears for many Wear OS Google Maps customers, as proven under:

Google hasn’t formally acknowledged the rollout, and never all customers are seeing the new format but throughout this testing section. Nonetheless, with extra core apps beginning to comply with swimsuit, it’s one other signal that Google is laying the groundwork for a extra unified visible expertise.