The historic distinction between Google’s and Apple’s design philosophies is gradually narrowing, risking to become imperceptible.
For a long time Mountain View has defended a visual identity based on solid colors and flat hues, but the latest evidence indicates a radical transformation on the horizon.
With the imminent arrival of the first Android 17, everything suggests that Google is about to align with one of the rival ecosystem’s most polarizing trends, namely the mass adoption of Gaussian blur.
Android 17 will heavily use transparency within the interface
According to recent reports from the 9to5Google team, who were able to view screenshots from internal OS builds, the next major update to the green robot will heavily integrate translucency effects into the user interface.
This move seems to follow Apple’s lead with the new design Liquid Glass of iOS 26 and already adopted by manufacturers such as Honor and OPPO in their software skins.
The question many enthusiasts are asking now is whether this evolution represents a necessary aesthetic step forward or if we are only going to inherit one of the most resource-intensive features in terms of graphical resources.
The evolution of Material 3 Expressive
Last year, with the release of the redesign Material 3 Expressive, Google had already begun softening the corners of its interface, making it more playful and colorful.
However, Android 17 seems to want to take this concept to a higher level, abandoning the opaque light or dark elements in favor of semi-transparent panels.
The goal seems to be to provide a greater sense of depth, allowing the user to keep visual contact with what happens “behind” the element they are interacting with.
The most telling example of this transformation concerns the volume bar. In current versions, the audio adjustment is performed via a solid-color indicator; in Android 17, the pill slider will become a translucent panel.
This will allow glimpsing the home screen background, app icons, or the content of an open app, all filtered by a blur that, according to sources, will also integrate the tones of the Dynamic Color system.
This approach won’t be limited to the volume: also the power menu and other crucial UI elements will undergo the same “glass translucent” treatment, extending the work already timidly started with notifications and Quick Settings in the latest Android 16 builds.
An unavoidable comparison: inspiration or necessity?
It is impossible to analyze this transition without calling the usual rival in question. The iPhone interface, especially with the iOS 26 update, has made translucency a hallmark, sometimes at the expense of readability.
However, rumors suggest Google’s implementation will be less aggressive than Liquid Glass from Cupertino. The blurred effect on Android 17 is described as lighter, designed to integrate with the existing ecosystem rather than disrupt it.
Google isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but to harmonize the visual experience, perhaps also in response to pressure from other Android manufacturers who have already implemented similar effects in their own skins.
It remains to be clarified whether this translucency will also be applied to third-party apps or if it will remain an exclusive of system elements managed directly by the OS, although the possibility of an update to Google Apps in this regard seems very likely.
The flip side: performance and older Pixels
From an aesthetic standpoint, transparency offers a more modern look, but technically it represents a significant challenge. Real-time rendering of blur effects requires greater computing power than simply displaying a solid color.
This raises legitimate concerns about performance impact, particularly for owners of older Pixel devices.
Excessive GPU resource usage to handle translucency could translate into micro-lags, less fluid animations, or slightly higher battery consumption. The hope lies in Google’s software optimization and, above all, in accessibility options.
It would be desirable that the option “Reduce blur effects“, already present in the settings, is able to completely disable these graphical novelties in Android 17, returning to users the ability to choose between aesthetics and pure performance.
At the moment, these novelties are not yet present in the public Canary builds. Google seems keen to keep it secret until the last, probably ahead of the release of the first Developer Preview expected for February.
