Hotspot #30: The Android redesign is its best chance for a win
Android is up for a visual refresh, AI may kill social media, and Google’s on the brink of death
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Google’s inability to keep a secret was proven once again as the company leaked its own redesign of the Android interface. Called Material 3 Expressive, the new look leverages color, shape, size, and motion to make the software “more usable.” In a now-deleted blog post, Google claimed it developed the new design through 46 rounds of research focused on how various visual elements affect user attention. The goal was to make the design more interesting for younger users while also simplifying usability for older ones, leveling the playing field so everyone can quickly spot interface elements. While a redesign alone won’t lure users out of Apple’s walled garden, giving Android such a distinctive interface is the right step forward. Copying Apple clearly hasn’t worked, so creating something completely different from the iPhone experience is refreshing, if nothing else. Given that everyone complains Apple can’t innovate anymore, Google’s new approach might pay off in the long run.
Researchers from the University of Zurich secretly used AI-powered bots on the popular debate subreddit r/changemymind to test whether AI could change people’s opinions on contentious topics. They discovered that AI is a great manipulator and more persuasive than humans. Setting aside the ethical failure of the study, it’s another sign we’re not prepared for the age of AI. Without effective tools to detect AI, such bots could be exploited by bad actors for even more effective disinformation campaigns than the ones we’ve already witnessed. The best-case scenario would be that the AI slop pushes people away from social media, encouraging us to reconnect in real life. The more likely outcome is the proliferation of AI-generated echo chambers amplifying the worst characteristics of social media and the internet. Either way, big social media companies will suffer. It would be a good idea for them to stop playing carelessly with AI and start working on ways to limit its harmful influence over their apps before it gets too late.
Android’s redesign is its chance for a win
Google’s inability to keep a secret was proven once again as the company leaked its own redesign of the Android interface. Called Material 3 Expressive, the new look leverages color, shape, size, and motion to make the software “more usable.” In a now-deleted blog post, Google claimed it developed the new design through 46 rounds of research focused on how various visual elements affect user attention. The goal was to make the design more interesting for younger users while also simplifying usability for older ones, leveling the playing field so everyone can quickly spot interface elements. While a redesign alone won’t lure users out of Apple’s walled garden, giving Android such a distinctive interface is the right step forward. Copying Apple clearly hasn’t worked, so creating something completely different from the iPhone experience is refreshing, if nothing else. Given that everyone complains Apple can’t innovate anymore, Google’s new approach might pay off in the long run.
AI is the death of social media
Researchers from the University of Zurich secretly used AI-powered bots on the popular debate subreddit r/changemymind to test whether AI could change people’s opinions on contentious topics. They discovered that AI is a great manipulator and more persuasive than humans. Setting aside the ethical failure of the study, it’s another sign we’re not prepared for the age of AI. Without effective tools to detect AI, such bots could be exploited by bad actors for even more effective disinformation campaigns than the ones we’ve already witnessed. The best-case scenario would be that the AI slop pushes people away from social media, encouraging us to reconnect in real life. The more likely outcome is the proliferation of AI-generated echo chambers amplifying the worst characteristics of social media and the internet. Either way, big social media companies will suffer. It would be a good idea for them to stop playing carelessly with AI and start working on ways to limit its harmful influence over their apps before it gets too late.
Google is cooked
Apple is exploring the implementation of AI-powered search tools in Safari. Eddy Cue, the company’s VP of services, said he believes AI will eventually replace today’s search engines. He also noted Apple will likely offer products similar to OpenAI’s and Perplexity’s search, although “they probably won’t be the default.” These statements were part of Cue’s testimony in the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google, which is just one of the search giant’s significant challenges. If Apple truly considers replacing Google with AI-powered search, then the end of web search as we know it could be closer than we imagined. Regulatory pressure might impact Google’s future, but that will pale compared to the consequences of 2 billion iPhones shifting toward ChatGPT or Claude-powered search. Such a massive change won’t happen overnight, which is probably Google’s only comfort. People’s habits change slowly, giving Google time to devise a survival strategy. One we can only hope includes a drastically better search experience, with or without AI.
Further reading
- Apple is exploring AI options in Safari as Google Search deal’s future is uncertain (Johanna Romero/PhoneArena)
- I'm trapped in the iPhone: why do Android phone makers refuse to copy Apple's best feature? (Victor Hristov/PhoneArena)
- Apple Services chief Eddy Cue says AI will replace iPhone by 2035 (Alan Friedman/PhoneArena)
- CMF Phone 2 Pro Review: The (almost) perfect budget phone (Aleksandar Anastasov/PhoneArena)
- Reddit is implementing ways to keep "unwelcome AI" out of the platform and keep it human (Johanna Romero/PhoneArena)
- OpenAI abandons plan to become a for-profit company (Alex Heath/The Verge)
- A deleted blog post just revealed Google's next big move for Android (Iskra Petrova/PhoneArena)
- Rockstar says new GTA VI trailer was ‘equal parts gameplay and cutscenes’ (Andrew Webster/The Verge)
- The best phone in 2025 costs $500 (and it’s not the Pixel 9a) (Aleksandar Anastasov/PhoneArena)
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