Material 3 (also referred to as Material You) is Google’s latest design system that focuses on creating adaptable, personalized, and visually consistent interfaces. At its core, Material 3 introduces enhanced theming capabilities, allowing developers to craft user interfaces that dynamically adapt to the user’s preferences, device settings, and environments. In this blog, we will dive deep into Android UI themes in Material 3 Design, covering every aspect in detail to ensure you have all the tools you need to leverage it effectively.

What is a Theme in Android UI?

A theme in Android UI is a structured collection of design attributes that control the appearance and behavior of various UI elements across an app. Themes allow developers to define global styling rules that ensure consistency across the application.

In Material 3, a theme encompasses several key components:

• Color System: Defines a harmonious set of colors.
• Typography: Configures font styles and sizes.
• Shapes: Controls the geometry of components like buttons, cards, and more.
• Component Styles: Sets consistent appearances for Material components such as AppBars, Buttons, TextFields, and more.

Themes eliminate the need for repetitive styling, enabling you to focus on crafting intuitive and visually appealing interfaces.

Material 3 Themes: Key Features and Innovations

Material 3 brings several enhancements and innovations to theming, making it a major step forward from its predecessor, Material 2. Here are the key features of Material 3 themes:

1. Dynamic Color System (Material You)

Dynamic color is one of the most defining features of Material 3. It allows your app to automatically generate a harmonious color palette based on the user’s wallpaper or manually chosen colors. This creates a personalized and adaptive user experience.

Dynamic color utilizes the Monet color engine, which extracts colors from a source image (like a wallpaper) and maps them to Material color roles:

• Primary: The app’s main color, used for prominent elements.
• Secondary: A complementary color for accents.
• Tertiary: Optional color for additional emphasis.
• Surface: Background color for components like cards and menus.
• Background: General background of the app.
• On-Colors: Colors for text and icons displayed on top of colored surfaces (e.g., onPrimary, onSurface).

Dynamic color ensures your app’s UI feels cohesive with the rest of the Android ecosystem while offering users a unique and personalized interface.

2. Expanded Color Roles

Material 3 introduces an expanded set of color roles to give developers more control over how colors are applied:

• PrimaryContainer and SecondaryContainer: Variants of primary and secondary colors for less prominent UI elements.
• Error and onError: Colors for error states.
• Outline: Colors for borders and outlines of components.

These additional roles enable more nuanced control over color application, improving accessibility and aesthetic quality.

3. Updated Typography System

Material 3 provides a refreshed typography system to improve readability and scalability across devices. Typography is categorized into three major groups:

• Display Styles: DisplayLarge, DisplayMedium, DisplaySmall
• Headline Styles: HeadlineLarge, HeadlineMedium, HeadlineSmall
• Body Styles: BodyLarge, BodyMedium, BodySmall
• Label Styles: LabelLarge, LabelMedium, LabelSmall

Each style is fine-tuned for its purpose, ensuring consistent text hierarchy and visual flow in your app.

4. Shape System

Material 3’s shape system defines the geometry of UI components, including their corners and elevations. It organizes shapes into three categories:

• Small Components: Buttons, chips, and small elements.
• Medium Components: Cards and modals.
• Large Components: Containers and dialogs.

By customizing shapes, you can add a unique touch to your app’s UI.

Implementing Material 3 Themes in Android

Material 3 themes can be applied using either XML styles or Jetpack Compose. Let’s explore both approaches in detail.

1. Applying Themes Using XML

In traditional Android development, themes are defined in XML files. Here’s how you can set up a Material 3 theme:

Step 1: Update Dependencies Ensure you are using the latest Material 3 library:

implementation "com.google.android.material:material:1.12.0"

Step 2: Define the Theme in XML Create a themes.xml file in your res/values directory:

<resources>
    <style name="Theme.MyApp" parent="Theme.Material3">
        <!-- Define color roles -->
        <item name="colorPrimary">@color/my_primary_color</item>
        <item name="colorSecondary">@color/my_secondary_color</item>

        <!-- Typography -->
        <item name="textAppearanceHeadline6">@style/TextAppearance.Material3.Headline6</item>

        <!-- Shapes -->
        <item name="shapeAppearanceMediumComponent">@style/ShapeAppearance.Material3.Medium</item>
    </style>
</resources>

Step 3: Set the Theme in Manifest Apply the theme globally by referencing it in your AndroidManifest.xml:

<application
    android:theme="@style/Theme.MyApp">
</application>

2. Applying Themes Using Jetpack Compose

Jetpack Compose offers a modern, programmatic way to define themes.

Step 1: Add Material 3 Dependency Ensure you have the Compose Material 3 library in your project:

implementation "androidx.compose.material3:material3:1.3.1"

Step 2: Create a Compose Theme Define your custom theme in a Kotlin file:

@Composable
fun MyAppTheme(
    useDarkTheme: Boolean = isSystemInDarkTheme(),
    content: @Composable () -> Unit
) {
    val colorScheme = if (useDarkTheme) {
        dynamicDarkColorScheme(LocalContext.current)
    } else {
        dynamicLightColorScheme(LocalContext.current)
    }

    MaterialTheme(
        colorScheme = colorScheme,
        typography = Typography,
        shapes = Shapes,
        content = content
    )
}

Step 3: Apply the Theme Wrap your app’s content in the theme:

@Composable
fun MyApp() {
    MyAppTheme {
        // App content goes here
    }
}

Best Practices for Material 3 Themes

1. Leverage Dynamic Colors: Adopt Material You’s dynamic color capabilities for personalized user experiences.
2. Ensure Accessibility: Use high-contrast colors for text and backgrounds to meet accessibility guidelines.
3. Utilize Material Theme Builder: Test and preview your themes with the Material Theme Builder.
4. Keep It Consistent: Maintain uniformity across all UI components to reinforce your brand identity.
5. Test on Multiple Devices: Ensure your theme works seamlessly across different devices, orientations, and screen sizes.

Conclusion

Material 3 themes in Android provide powerful tools to design modern, adaptive, and user-centric applications. By embracing dynamic color, expanded color roles, updated typography, and a flexible shape system, you can create visually compelling and highly functional user interfaces that resonate with users.

Start integrating Material 3 themes today to elevate your app’s UI to the next level!