[Update: Again, again, again] Google testing a colorless shapeless Play Store redesign with large Install button


You know those beautiful bold colors that were supposed to make out Material Design? Yup, we've been kissing them goodbye for a long time now and it looks like they might be stripped away from one more app on your phone: the Play Store.
A couple of users have started seeing a new Play Store interface that takes away the green title and notification bar, replaces them with a white one. It also takes away the green background behind the What's new section for changelogs and replaces it with white. It also takes away the grey background behind your rating/review of an app and... you guessed it... replaces it with white. The only real addition of color is a larger green Install button.
There are plenty of other changes to the interface too, like the disappearance of cards for the similar apps and recommendations, the wider text column for reviews, and some font differences, as well as a mysterious lack of round indicators for download numbers, categories, and review score. The latter could be a sign that this UI is still in development though, because you can see the empty space where they should be... unless Google turned them completely white. I kid, I kid. Partially.
Below are a series of screenshots of the current interface I see on my device (left) and what shows up on the new design (right). So you can feast your eyes on the disappearance of color and shape.
 
 
 
 
 
This does seem to be a limited server-side test so let's hope it doesn't roll out to all users before someone in the design team figures out how to add a bit of color or texture back.
Another iteration
The new Play Store design appears to have hit more and more users over the past couple of months, so we thought we'd update this post to bring it back to your attention. The design seems a little more complete now too, with the category and chart bubbles showing up below the app's name and developer, and the empty white line below the install button filling up with the review score, number of downloads, and PG rating. We also get a glimpse (in the middle screenshot below) at how beta testing apps will show up. Hint: not a lot of color either. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
  
I can't say that I'm a fan of this design yet, but it feels more complete than when we first spotted it. It's still too white though and could use some more differentiation between all the elements.
More white menus and screens
Another week, another iteration on this design. While I just got the interface shown in the screenshots above for app pages, other users have started reporting a similar interface rolling to them but this time for the side menu (including new shortcuts to open Google's other apps), My appssection, Notifications, Wishlist, and more. Surprisingly, for those who have the design below, the app pages are not transformed into the all-white look seen above. They remain the same we've had for years. Server-side tests and all.
 
 
Again, again, again
This white Play Store design keeps rolling on and off, showing up for some users, reverting back to the original design for others. It's not final yet, it hasn't rolled out to everyone yet, but we keep getting tips about it so we thought we'd bring this post to your attention again.

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