> every 6 months

How so? This is Material 2 compliant. The last "style" they had was Material 1, which was 5 years ago.

"material" itself doesn't support many things on android ie there are no android versions of things. it's crazy considering the same company is supposedly using the spec for their device designs.

You're not the only one. I got yet another update to Gmail on Android a couple of weeks ago - honestly, it looks familar... it's like they've changed it so many times it's back round to how it was at some point in the past!

I really wish they'd just stop .

Android's GMail update sucks for those that can't stand high values of white, it is like being at an interrogation room with a spotlight on the face.

I agree - there really is a lot of white in the latest update! I'd much prefer a bit of colour to help delineate different sections of the UI, such as the search bar and buttons.

So would everyone except Google's in house design team, which has lost the plot.

There seems to be some suggestion this was done for the purposes of enabling dark mode, which has never made the slightest bit of sense tbh.

This is the essence of Google. They’re too big to fail so they can pretty much do whatever they want. Kill huge apps (Reader, Picasa), major paradigm shifts in UI, abandoning projects, fragmented efforts... how many messenger platforms do they have again?

Pretty much any other company would die from this kind of wheel spinning and frantic behavior, they’re fortunate to get away with it.

Or creating their own recommended design principals and then never implement them into their own flagship apps.

That's practically tradition by now, when you consider Office or iTunes, especially in older times (when people cared more).