Android app should follow Material Design, not iOS patterns
The recent Android update (12.4.*) introduces design elements directly ported from iOS, creating a non-native experience that ignores platform conventions and reduces usability.
Core issues:
Platform-inappropriate navigation
The fixed bottom tab bar (Chats / Contacts / Settings / Profile) wastes screen space on rarely used sections. Settings and Profile are accessed only occasionally, yet occupy permanent space. This reduces chat visibility and forces extra scrolling—especially problematic on smaller screens and during one-handed use.
Material Design addresses this with navigation drawers or contextual bottom sheets, showing relevant actions only when needed instead of always displaying everything.
Reduced information density
New borders, spacing, and visual effects in chat lists add visual clutter without functional benefit. Users scan dozens of chats regularly—extra noise slows this down and reduces the number of visible conversations per screen.
Inconsistency with platform expectations
Android users expect Material Design patterns because they are consistent across the OS and well-designed apps. Deviating from these creates cognitive friction and makes Telegram feel like a lazy cross-platform port rather than a thoughtfully designed Android app.
Why this matters:
iOS enforces Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines through App Store review. Android does not mandate Material Design, but this freedom should be used to create better native experiences—not to copy-paste iOS designs that don’t fit the platform.
Suggestion:
Design the Android UI according to Material Design principles. Use platform-appropriate navigation patterns, respect Android’s visual language, and optimize for different screen sizes and interaction models expected by Android users.
The desktop and web versions also deserve platform-native designs or their own Telegram style rather than a universal iOS aesthetic.
There is a bug in it, when I click on the channel to read the information in the network, it will still show unread, which makes me very upset.😭
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Okay, the new design is terrible.. I'm going to look for a way to remove this update and download the previous one with a comfortable interface (please return it)
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Alex
The Android app needs Material 3 Expressive design! The iOS design is currently terrible.
january, whatever.
it's google chats app btw with material 3, and you still complain about telegram
Fr. Though maybe it's just similarities between M3E and Apple's new design. Like, both of them decided to add floating docks for less screen space be taken by nav bars. It's similar but different and Telegram's design is still closer to Apple even if we compare TG to Googel Chats
Those do not have the same purpose. In Liquid Glass, the docked bar is only a navigation bar to establish a navigation hierarchy. In MD3 Expressive, the dock is a toolbar that "can" have navigation elements (like the Home icon). For navigation only, MD3E has its own navigation bar and navigation drawer (which Telegram removed it). Liquid Glass and MD3E can have similar-looking components, but their design philosophies and purposes are different.
But your screenshot literally has a hamburger menu? In MD3E, if they remove the navigation drawer, it's because there's a navigation bar present in the app. Comparing those apps to Telegram doesn't make sense because in Telegram's case, you don't need a navigation bar nor a toolbar, since from the chats menu, you only have two actions: new chat and create stories. Philosophy behind MD3E is that it's flexible (like having a drawer for Gmail), unlike Liquid Glass which always tries to follow the same semantic roles for the components across its apps, and you end up with a dock that is barely used.
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