Google Chat recently picked up a new icon and a redesigned navigation menu on the web with dedicated views for “Home” and “Mentions,” joining “Starred” in the Shortcuts section. The search giant is now bringing those UI elements to a new bottom navigation bar on theGoogle Chatapp for Android and iOS alongside other new tabs, making it easier to find what you need.
The new navigation bar makes it easier to jump between Home, Direct messages, Spaces, and Mentions, all in one convenient spot, Google announced in ablog post. Previously, the mobile navigation bar was split into two tabs: Chat for direct messages andSpacesfor larger group chats. Now, everything’s streamlined, making it simpler to switch between these sections.
In the standalone Chat app, those four tabs are housed in a floating navigation bar. Home is the main hub for all your conversations, making it a breeze to keep track of what’s happening. There’s a handy filter so you can zero in on unread messages. Then, the Direct Messages tab neatly lays out all your one-on-one and group chats, with your favorite ones right up top for quick access.
When you switch to Spaces, you’ll see a list of all your spaces, with your top conversations right in the spotlight. Meanwhile, the Mentions tab rounds up all the messages where someone gave you a mention in conversations or spaces. And there’s a handy new compose button on the right to fire off a new message.
On the other hand, the new Chat design looks a bit more crowded when you access it through the Gmail app, as shown in the images below, courtesy of theGoogle News Telegram channel.
The new navigation bar sits on top of Gmail’s own navigation bar, which already has three tabs of its own. Each section comes with its own unread badge, and there’s a combined count bar down at the bottom. Additionally, the classic hamburger menu is still hanging out in the top-left corner.
This redesign comes on the heels of Google Chat’svisual refresh on iOS devices, which introduced message bubbles. This feature was previously exclusive to the web and Android, and it makes it simpler to tell apart incoming and outgoing messages.
Google says these upgrades will automatically roll out to your mobile devices over the next few weeks for both Android and iOS users. You don’t need to do anything; the update will drop on its own. It’s available to everyone with aGoogle Workspaceaccount or a personal Google account.
