Back at I/O 2023, the Material team previewed what’s next for Google apps on large screens, like foldables and tablets. Making Material You more expressive was one such goal and that’s now coming to fruition, while a short bottom bar is also coming.
Officially, the Material 3 bottom (navigation) bar is supposed to be tall. Most first-party apps abide by that, but there are some notable exceptions, like the new simplified Google Maps bottom bar.
As shared by Dylan Roussel today (and seen above), Material 3 will soon make that official the “Short Navigation Bar.” It’s the existing design just with less margins above and below. Meanwhile, apps like Gmail have opted out of labels to be even more compact.
On medium screens, like foldables, the Short Navigation Bar places the labels next to the icon.
In the context of tablets and foldables, Google believes a larger canvas allows apps to be more…
Source 9to5google.com