Google News redesign simplifies the bottom bar on Android

Like other first-party apps this year, a slight redesign of Google News on Android simplifies the bottom bar.

Previously, Google News had four tabs – For You, Headlines, Followers and Newsstand – across all customers.

The first two sections have now been consolidated into a new “Home” tab, which still displays To You as the default content feed. A category carousel below the app bar gives you access to: Headlines, Local, US, World, Business, Technology, Entertainment, Sports, Science and Health. This was previously located under the Headings tab.

Old vs. new

Instead of an underline, the carousel uses a chip design to note which feed you’re viewing. This feature affects one-handed accessibility, but simplifies overall navigation.

Google News isn’t the only thing that has gone from four tabs to three in recent months, which I think looks nicer, if not more elegant, for Material You. There’s also Google Photos (on iOS) and Google Maps.

This straightforward Google News redesign is rolling out with version 5.120.x on Android after a server-side update. It is not live yet on iOS. There is no Dynamic Color theme with the blue accent color still in use.

The last major update to Google News introduced a customizable “Followers” feed for sources you curate.