Best of Android — August 2025

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   Article

   Collections·33w

   Introducing Material 3 Expressive: A Comprehensive Design System for Wear OS

   Google launched Material 3 Expressive, a new design system specifically built for Wear OS that optimizes user interfaces for round screens and battery-sensitive devices. The system features edge-hugging buttons, TransformingLazyColumn for smooth scrolling, 3-slot tile layouts, dynamic color palettes, variable fonts, and shape morphing animations. Developers get access to Figma design kits and code examples to build engaging, brand-expressive wearable applications with intuitive swipe gestures and quick information access.

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   Article

   React Native·35w

   Android 16 support, faster iOS builds, and more · React Native

   React Native 0.81 introduces Android 16 support with mandatory edge-to-edge display, deprecates SafeAreaView in favor of community alternatives, removes built-in JavaScriptCore support, and adds experimental precompiled iOS builds that can reduce compile times by up to 10x. The release also bumps minimum requirements to Node.js 20 and Xcode 16.1, while improving error reporting and Metro configuration handling.

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   Video

   Awesome·36w

   Google just killed another great product...

   Google is discontinuing Chrome OS as an independent operating system, merging it into Android to create a unified platform across phones, tablets, and laptops. While officially framed as a merger, Chrome OS will effectively become a compatibility layer as Android takes over. The transition aims to reduce costs and development complexity while positioning Android as Google's single long-term platform, particularly for AI integration with Gemini. Existing Chromebook users face uncertainty, with developer previews expected in late 2025 and consumer devices in 2026, while challenges remain around update fragmentation and creating a proper desktop experience on Android.

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