CHRIS SINCO: Today, I'm excited to introduce you
to the new user interface in Android Studio,
we call this new user interface the New UI,
a reimagined theme for the IDE that
aims to reduce complexity, provide easier
access to essential features, and disclose
complex functionality as needed, resulting in a modern, cleaner
look and feel.
The New UI was introduced first in IntelliJ 2022.2,
with the goal of gathering feedback as early
as possible to ensure a smooth transition to the new design
direction.
Since then, the IntelliJ team has
been actively listening and making significant changes
to address the feedback, resulting in a design that
is both fresh and user-focused.
With the IntelliJ 2022.3 platform update
in Android Studio Giraffe, we're now
able to fully support the New UI and make it feel tailored
for Android development.
There are four main design changes in the New UI--
a simplified main toolbar, a new layout design
for tool windows, new Light and Dark themes, and a new icon
set.
Let's walk through each change in detail.
In the old UI, the main toolbar had
become quite cluttered over time, with the navigation
breadcrumb and too many actions in general
that we found weren't used very often.
In the New UI, we simplified it to focus
on the most common actions, such as picking the running device
as well as making it easier to work with version control
and switching projects.
Note, if there are important actions missing,
you can easily add them back to the main toolbar
with Customization in Settings.
Customization gives you three groups to add actions to--
left, center, and right.
And with Android Studio Hedgehog on Windows and Linux,
you have the option to collapse the Main Menu
under a single icon on the toolbar
to simplify things further and get more space back for code.
Over time, it became challenging to manage tool windows
as new features and third-party plugins
kept adding more to the IDE.
In the New UI, tool windows have been
redesigned for cleaner navigation and easier
management.
The buttons themselves now have larger click targets
with enlarged iconography, and the text labels
have also been removed to de-clutter the sidebars.
By default, there are fewer tool windows on the sidebar
to help you focus on the most important tools
when starting a project.
If you'd like to bring back a specific tool window,
use the Overflow menu on the top-left sidebar
to summon it back.
It will remain on the sidebar for the active project
until explicitly hidden.
And with Android Studio Hedgehog,
tool windows can now be vertically or horizontally
split to use certain tools side by side,
similar to the interaction model in the old UI.
The New UI brings a refreshed color palette
to the IDE and Editor to improve color contrast and consistency.
The new themes are Light and Dark.
The old UI themes--
IntelliJ Light, Darcula, and High Contrast--
can still be used, as well as custom themes
from the marketplace, with improved compatibility
with the New UI coming in the future IntelliJ 2023.2 platform
update.
And to top it all off, the New UI
comes with the refreshed icon set.
The new style uses more distinguishable shapes
and colors and cleaner linework to create
a set that is more legible and visually balanced.
And that's a quick tour through the New UI in Android Studio.
It is available today as an opt-in setting for Android
Studio Giraffe and is the default theme
for new installations in Android Studio Hedgehog.
We love the fresh and modern look this brings to the IDE,
and we hope you find it just as delightful in your day-to-day
development as we do.
We're committed to making the New UI work for you
in this transition, so try it out as soon as possible
so your feedback can be incorporated
into future releases.
Please send us your feedback on the Public Issue
Tracker using the link below.
Thanks for watching, and happy coding.
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