Google Maps with fresh Material Design lands on many Android devices

Google teased quite a lot of changes to its apps and services at this year I/O conference, and some of them are starting to appear for many users. Take Google Maps for example, which received several small updates in the last few weeks and now is seeing a more important release on Android.

The new Material Theme design is now rolling out to some Android users, but it will eventually be pushed out to everyone who uses Google Maps. Now, it's important to understand that this isn't an update that you can download via Google Play Store, but likely a server-side update that is rolled out in waves.

AndroidPolice reports that the new Google Maps design is much cleaner and brighter, probably due to the use of the white color all over the app's menus and UI. The fonts have been changed and many of the buttons and icons have been redesigned and relocated.

The Explore window received the most changes and now features rounded colorful icons for each category, but there's also a scrolling carousel that allows users to peruse through a plethora of restaurants, as well as a featured public list.

However, the promised “For You” tab that usually hosts personal recommendations and scores didn't make it into this update, but we're still expecting Google to make it available in the “next few months.”