android-design

An Agent Skill that teaches Claude Google's Android design guidance and Material 3 Expressive, the reasoning beneath them, and a method for applying them to native Android apps.

Version 1.0.0 · current to Android 17 (API 37) and Compose Material 3 1.4 / 1.5 beta, October 2026 · Changelog

npx android-design

The companion of apple-hig for Android.

What it does

• Designs and reviews native Android UI in Jetpack Compose (first) or Views, for phones, tablets, foldables, desktop windows, Wear OS, TV, cars, XR and AI glasses, and widgets.
• Starts from a method, not a rulebook: intake (surface, targetSdk, window, input, abilities), constraints, alternatives, a decision, failure states, validation.
• Knows which rules the platform enforces and from which targetSdk: edge-to-edge, predictive back, large-screen resizability.
• Treats expression as a dial: Material 3 Expressive where it helps, restraint where the task is critical or dense, accessibility at every setting.
• Ports iOS designs as decisions, with conditions and a test for each, not one-to-one swaps.
• States conflicts between Google's own pages instead of picking one silently.

What's inside

android-design/
├── SKILL.md              # router: scope, routing, principles, quick rules, checklist, verify
├── references/
│   ├── applying.md       # the method and worked examples
│   ├── philosophy.md     # Google's stated values vs this skill's synthesis
│   ├── psychology.md     # heuristics that change a decision, with their limits
│   ├── foundations.md    # color, dynamic color, type, shape, motion, elevation, icons
│   ├── expressive.md     # Material 3 Expressive and the expression dial
│   ├── adaptive.md       # window size classes, navigation, panes, enforcement, back, foldables, desktop
│   ├── components.md     # Material 3 components with iOS equivalents
│   ├── patterns.md       # navigation, settings, sign-in, permissions, notifications, Live Updates, states, copy
│   ├── accessibility.md  # acceptance criteria and testing
│   ├── quality.md        # core and adaptive quality, Android vitals, startup
│   ├── architecture.md   # the state and event contract that makes a design implementable
│   ├── from-ios.md       # iOS-to-Android decision table
│   ├── wear.md · tv.md · cars.md · xr-glasses.md · widgets.md
│   ├── versions.md       # platform and library matrix
│   └── glossary.md
└── .living/              # facts that change between releases (living-skills/1.1)

Install

npx android-design            # installs to ~/.claude/skills/android-design
./install.sh                  # from a clone

Design kits and samples (Google)

• Android UI kit (Figma): https://www.figma.com/community/file/1237551184114564748
• Material 3 design kit (Figma): https://www.figma.com/community/file/1035203688168086460
• Widget canonical layouts (Figma): https://www.figma.com/community/file/1478519017421157788
• Material Theme Builder: https://material-foundation.github.io/material-theme-builder/
• Now in Android: https://github.com/android/nowinandroid · Compose samples: https://github.com/android/compose-samples

Keeping it current

Facts that change faster than releases (OS and library versions, new guidance) live in android-design/.living/KNOWLEDGE.md, refreshed from the sources in .living/sources.md with every change logged. The original SKILL.md is never edited by a refresh.

License

MIT for this skill's own text and code (see LICENSE). Android, Material Design, Google Play and related names are trademarks of Google LLC. This is an independent reference, not affiliated with or endorsed by Google; see NOTICE.