Chrome 136 tones down some Dynamic Color on Android [U]

Google is widely rolling out Chrome 136 for Android today with some visual tweaks, like toning down Dynamic Color in some parts of the browser.

Update: Chrome has toned down, not removed, Dynamic Color across various aspects of the interface. This change is more apparent when the dark theme is enabled.

In the first example below (with the same wallpaper and palette selected across two devices), Chrome 136’s overflow menu is much closer to gray instead of being a dark green. Across different palettes, the trend is towards a gray that is much less vibrant.

135 vs. 136

You will also notice this change in the tab grid. The card for the current page is unchanged, but everything else has a background that’s much closer to gray.

The bottom Tab Group switcher is another place where you’ll encounter this toned down Dynamic Color. You’ll also notice this change with the light theme, but it’s harder to make out.

This change is pretty minor in the grand scheme, and something you might forget about after initially noticing. It could be a bug, but it remains in the current Beta and Dev releases of Chrome for Android.

The other visual change today is to the corner radius of cards in the tab switcher. They are now much more rounded, with more menus (like overflow) and elements updated in upcoming versions of the browser.

Chrome 136 is rolling out via the Play Store.