Earlier this year, Google rolled out a more streamlined version of the new Google Groups so it would look more like the other G Suite apps instead of an archaic-looking remnant of Google’s history. But one hold out was the mobile version of the Groups website. It may not be the most used of Google apps of course but there are still those who use it so the announcement that it’s finally getting a Material Design is most welcome.
In a blog post, Google announced that Groups is getting a new and updated mobile interface that would match the look and feel of the desktop version. This means they have finally applied the Material Design on the mobile version which looked pretty dated and was not on par with other Google services. Unfortunately, they still haven’t brought feature parity to the mobile version so for things like creating a group or actually posting, you still need to use the desktop version.
But with the updated look, it will make it easier to do “common tasks” like finding your groups through browsing, searching, or going to your favorite ones. You can also manage your membership settings for a group and read conversations within that group. So this is okay if you’re just a passive member in a group but if you want to reply or even create your own group, you’re still limited to the desktop version.
For all the apps and services that Google has created, they still haven’t been able to come up with a product that can match other workplace productivity apps like Slack or Trello. Not to mention that their whole communication app system is still a hot mess. Groups had the potential to be a business communication platform but they haven’t brought anything new, except this “new look”, to the digital table.
In any case, if you’re still using Groups, the new interface is turned on by default unless your admin turned off Groups in general. Iif you’re just an end user, you’ll see the updated version on your mobile web browser.
