Google Discover has a new look to it that incorporates some of Google’s Material You design language, although the style hasn’t been completely overhauled like some of Google’s apps have been. For the most part, the UI design looks the same, save for a few minor changes that bring the Discover feed in line with Google’s other apps that have had their UI modernized.
The biggest noticeable difference is that there’s now a big circular “+” button in the top right corner of some of the news cards. These don’t appear on every single one though. The cards are also now showing merged images and article titles. In the current design of the Google Discover feed, news cards are separated by a thin line that goes across the screen horizontally, with the title in the bottom half of the card and the image for that article sitting above the title. The images in this older design are essentially the cards for the new design.
They have four rounded corners and almost appear as if they’re layered on top of the news card. The new design shows the card with four rounded corners still, but a small section at the bottom of it now holds the title while the top half is the image. The line separating each news card is now gone and the cards themselves are what separate each article that pops up in the feed.
The new Google Discover look doesn’t appear to be rolling out to everyone yet
While this is most certainly a new design it doesn’t appear to be showing up for everyone. The images included above come from our own Chris Yackulic, which is using a Pixel 9 Pro Fold. That being said, I’m using a Pixel 8 and they aren’t popping up for me. As I still have the old Discover design on my device. It’s unclear how widespread this design change is and how long it’ll take for most users to see it.
Regardless of that, Google is pushing this new look to some users at the very least. It’s also a safe bet that once you see the design change in the Google Discover feed in one place, it’ll change in the other. On some Android devices, the Discover feed can be found by swiping to the right on your phone’s homescreen. It can also be found in the Google app. For me, these two versions of Discover look the same. So if you notice the new look in one spot, you should be able to see it elsewhere too.
These changes may not stick
While the new look is obviously being tested with some users, the fact that it doesn’t appear to be very widespread right now may suggest Google is simply experimenting with the design. This wouldn’t be the first time Google has done such a thing and it probably won’t be the last. Also worth noting is that this is the first we’ve seen of this new design. After some searching, however, this design has been available since at least October 25 according to Search Engine Roundtable.
Lily Ray also posted about the design change on X on October 18. So while the design isn’t completely new, it’s only been around for about a month. And not many users appear to have access to it. Which means it’s probably part of the Google app beta.
