YouTube Music App Receives Material 3 Design Update for Wear OS

The YouTube Music application has begun rolling out a redesigned interface for Wear OS smartwatches, featuring Google’s new Material 3 Expressive design language.

Currently, the visual overhaul is limited to the app’s Tile – the widget accessible from the left side of the watch face – but is available on devices beyond those running the latest Wear OS 6. The update introduces vibrant, colorful backgrounds for popular playlists and vertically oriented posters with rounded corners, alongside a “Browse” button designed to fit the screen’s bezels. This design change aims to improve usability on smaller screens and provide a more visually appealing experience for users.

Inside the app itself, users will notice a bolder font replacing the previous thinner typeface, and increased vertical spacing between list items, making music selection easier. These changes are part of a broader effort by Google to modernize its suite of apps and provide a consistent user experience across all platforms; you can learn more about Material Design on the official Material website. The update comes as more users rely on streaming services for on-the-go music listening.

It remains unclear whether Samsung will adopt the Material 3 Expressive design language for its own Wear OS applications. Google has not yet announced a timeline for expanding the Material 3 redesign to the full YouTube Music app on Wear OS.

Google introduced a significant redesign for Wear OS with the Wear OS 6 update. Although the update has been released to select Galaxy Watches, not all related apps have yet implemented the new design language yet. Google seems to be preparing to bring this new design language to YouTube Music.

YouTube Music’s Material 3 Expressive redesign appears

The YouTube Music app has started getting Material 3 Expressive design language. Currently, the new design is available only for the app’s Tile (widgets on the left side of the Wear OS watch’s watch face). This was first reported by Android Authority, and we can confirm that the new design is indeed live. It is good that the new design is not limited to just the device running Wear OS 6.

As you can see in the screenshots above, popular playlists have colourful backgrounds and a vertical poster with rounded corners. The Browse button hugs the smartwatch’s screen bezels on the bottom. Hopefully, Google brings more Material 3 Expressive UI design elements to YouTube Music and all other Wear OS apps.

It is now easier to select the playlist and start playing your favorite music. Inside the app, text uses a bolder font, replacing thinner font that appeared earlier. Moreover, each item in a list takes up more vertical space, making it easier to select that music track.

It remains to be seen whether Samsung will use the Material 3 Expressive design language.