It’s not clear when KitKat’s successor will be released, but Google is reportedly preparing a major design makeover for its “L” version of Android. According to information received by Android Police, Google is looking to unify design across its products and across platforms, and the initiative is apparently referred to as Quantum Paper.
With Quantum Paper, Google wants to offer the same user interface and experience to end-users, no matter what devices they use, and no matter what platform – apparently, Google’s iOS apps will follow the same Quantum Paper design elements as its Android apps.
But Google isn’t just looking to give Android a complete makeover, as the Quantum Paper design “language” will be available to developers too, who will be encouraged to integrate the various new elements into their own apps.
Apparently Quantum Paper is based on Google’s Polymer design initiative unveiled at Google I/O 2013, which is “a toolkit for designing responsive websites using predefined yet customizable building blocks.”
Quantum Paper design will include new visual elements, new buttons, new interaction elements, which should all be consistent across devices. Geek.com has recently obtained images that show a radical Gmail redesign is coming, both for the Android and web versions of Gmail, and seem to corroborate Android Police’s report. The leaked Gmail images show a consistent interface across devices, which includes many of the visual elements Android Police mentioned for the upcoming design overhaul.
Quantum Paper design elements will be found in all existing Google apps, starting with Google+ which has already been updated, with more Google apps to gradually get Quantum Paper designs by the time the Android “L” release is available. Google’s websites are also expected to get the same update by the time Android L launches.
Images showing the rumored Gmail redesign as revealed by Geek.com in previous months follow below, which appear to abide to the same design rules, while more concept images for Quantum Paper are available at the source link below.
