With the recent redesign of Google products across the board, we’ve been pretty happy overall. Many people, however, have expressed displeasure with that ever-present black bar at the top of their browser when they’re on a Google property. It seems, according to a leaked-then-pulled YouTube video, that it’s going away soon.
Right now, let’s say that you’re on Google+. You’ll see a bar that looks like this, going across the top of your screen:
While handy, it doesn’t quite do justice to the rest of the aesthetics of the new Google redesign, and it just feels a bit clunky and out of place. Soon, though, that’s going to change as Google introduces a new version of the Google Bar, complete with drop down menus and compressed navigation.
TNW reader Koen Peeters tipped us off to a video that he spotted on YouTube, which then quickly had its privacy settings changed. Fortunately, there’s another copy floating around and what could be coming soon is quite impressive.
So there you have it. Obviously we don’t know when the new bar is rolling out, but it’s a welcome change, for sure. In cast you’ve missed it, it’s not the first of sexy design changes for Google. Check out what the company did with the Google Search app for the iPad.
Wish that there was a choice to go back to the old version. It takes up about an inch on my screen and scrolls with it. I can no longer see 2 posts at a time.
If anything, make it more compact.
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LikeI miss the black bar!
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LikeI believe the video is available on Youtube again; also on the Google Blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/next-stage-in-our-redesign.html
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LikeHmm.
I don't think it's out of place. I just think that it provides contrast, which is important; and by it's very nature is 'noticeably different'.
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LikeI don't like this.
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LikeI know it's hard to make comparisons, but I prefer to pace of UI changes on Google properties to Facebook. Facebook make far too many changes too quickly, and many are bizarre and pointless.
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LikeBeen 3 days now, I see a whitish sandbar in place of the dark onhttps://twitter.com/ptamzz/status/141807959117266944/photo/1
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Likethis is a smart, smart move. Leverage the Google cloud services and their easy integration with + to makes us think more and more about why we still spend so much time of facebook.
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LikeI like the black, i made the background on my e/mail black,
I guess my eyes are getting tired with all the time I spend
on-line....
or is it just old age??
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Like+Meg Dunn: absolutely agree.
"from what i see, i like the black bar much better."
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LikeFunny how in the video the voice complains that the bar takes up "precious" space but the new interface for gmail and google reader is filled with unused space and unnecessarily huge buttons.
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LikeThe notifications icon background is green instead of red.
Wonder if that's the new colour, a mistake, or will it change according to, say, gmail theme.
Also, don't think the new bar will be as good for driving traffic to other google properties. You know, out-of-sight-out-of-mind and all that..
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LikeI'd much rather they spent their energy on getting rid of these stupid grey scrollbars we have to put up with on Google sites in Chrome. Just give us back our proper scrollbars and up and down arrows, Google, eh?
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Likefrom what i see, i like the black bar much better.
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LikeMeg Dunn Really? I'm a fan of the drop down. To each their own, I suppose.
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LikeBrad McCarty i think some operating systems use more drop downs/ups than others, which makes them more familiar for some people than for others.
i hate trying to select something in a drop down, missing the mark and the whole menus disappears and you have to start all over. with a stationary bar, if i mis-click, i'm still close to where i was aiming and don't have to move all over the screen to get back to where i need to be.
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LikeIt could be great if I can choose the apps that I want in the bar, its really annoying that from time to time I have to add bookmarks cause reader or another app isn't in the bar.
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Likenehemoth Great idea.
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LikeConversation from Twitter
nathanacurtis gotta disagree. I use the same three links on google's black bar every day - no way I want a menu of 30 things
jayden_a Do people actually hate the black bar? I like the black bar.
shekibobo I guess. *shrugs*
jayden_a I don't know if it's less usable--definitely not AS usable, and a far cry from there 10+ year standard... #google
piranga It's not terrible, but people who aren't experts and don't click on logos to go home won't know how to get to some products. A few
piranga nice touches are in there now. One specifically is the share button not feeling out of place because of the visual bubble.
jayden_a I completely agree. I wish they would have kept some type of bar but implemented changes in design based off this new UI
Conversation from Facebook
I have a feeling that all these changes are going to make the search process alot more interactive, in the "many to many relationships" department
Perhaps I missed something. Either design works for me. But the new bar seems to take more real estate.
I don't mind the black-bar. I like it. But I like *this* new look, showed in the video, much better.
I was a fan of the bar but the new look seems to work. Minimized, I like.
good move the black bar was not beautiful
I already put up with that black bar. Like with black bar in Gingerbread
Bad move...
I love the black bar! Why fix something that isn't broken?!