Google showcases ‘Best-In-Class Android Design’ with new Play Store section

BY Killian Bell

Published 29 May 2015

Material Design showcase Google Play

Google has opened up a new “Best-In-Class Android Design” section in the Play Store that showcases a bunch of beautiful apps with Material Design. The roundup includes titles like Pocket Casts, Weather Timeline, Evernote, and Telegram.

“This showcase recognizes excellence in applying material design to create engaging user experiences,” says Google’s Material Design Team. “The six winners represent best-in-class applications of specific aspects of material design.”

There are a total of 18 apps in the section right now, including B&H Photo Video, New York Times, Pocket, Pocket Casts, Tumblr, BuzzFeed, GroupMe, Indiegogo, Lyft, SeriesGuide, and Telegram. Google has also launched a new design website to highlight Material Design.

The page includes the excellent video below, featuring a bunch of Google designers, which explains how Material Design was developed, and the lengths the design team goes to to create visually pleasing interfaces that can be really powerful.

A couple of other videos on the Google Design webpage explain how Google’s Roboto font was created, and how Google used paper and other materials to perfect Material Design.

Material Design is a year old now, but lots of Android developers are struggling to grasp its concept — or they’re ignoring it altogether — which means really attractive apps that use Material Design well can be hard to find.

Google’s decision to begin showcasing Material Design apps will hopefully persuade those who aren’t already embracing the new guidelines to begin doing so.

[via Android Authority]