AndroidApplications

Google has not updated this function of its app for years: it hardly gives information and urgently needs a change

The design and identity that Google has wanted to give to its services has improved over the years. Now with Material You, the third iteration of the design language, the company’s applications look prettier and above all, more natural.

We have praised these design lines on many occasions. However, they are still, at least, improvable, like the side menu. In his desire to achieve an intuitive user interface as well as attractive, Google has forgotten some sections such as the weather forecast section of your main application.

Google’s weather section is a relic, and not exactly in a good way

The Google application for Android, which takes our personal preferences into account, is complete and returns information in different formats such as news, recommended videos, sports results, and even allows us to configure various aspects such as search history.

Precisely, This shows us the weather forecast in a visual way. The problem: the interface hasn’t been updated for years. Despite the fact that its weather section underwent changes at the end of last year, at least from the search engine, the one we find on all Android smartphones has not.

Time Google Design

This is what the outdated design of Google’s weather section looks like.

It is worth mentioning when we talk about updating something, We don’t think that upgrading for the sake of it is good.. But we are talking about an interesting function that many users access in their day to day and that has not changed for years. In fact, it maintains a design similar to the recently updated one found on the web.

This becomes more important when we use the native widget that is included with Android 13. This widget is nice, but when touched, it takes us to the Google application, opening the outdated design of its weather forecast section.

The first criticism is taken by the graphic part of the section: occupies the entire screen of our mobile to only show the maximum, minimum temperature and the wind chill, nothing more. To see more information we must scroll down where we will see the weather forecast for the next few hours, as well as humidity, pressure and a line with rainfall.

If we only talk about quantity, the information seems sufficient, although I could add some more information like most Android weather apps do. But really your problem is not this, it is the presentation. These data that we have mentioned are shown with a small font that does not stand out from the rest of the design.

Also, the design contains a single illustration that varies depending on the current state. The one that takes up most of the screen and shows an adorable frog. Google could play a lot with the design of this app, keeping the Material You style but incorporating more varied images.

Google Weather Horizontal

With the mobile in landscape the situation does not improve. The visualization of the information is complicated, requiring a swipe to continue consulting it.

Something similar to what happens with the same widget, which fits seamlessly into the operating system interface, including accent colors. It is true that we also miss more advanced data such as the status of fishing or alerts in real time for fires or other natural catastrophes, but for that, perhaps we should install an additional application.

Yes, we call it a relic because of how old it is, not because of its value. This function needs a redesign, improving both its appearance and the quality of functions it offers. The system deserves it, and the users much more.

Related Articles

Back to top button