Why does my Google Maps look different?

Ugh, why does my Google Maps look so different?! I swear, I opened it up this morning and it was like, whoa, someone threw a whole new color palette at it. It’s not terrible, I guess, but it’s definitely jarring. I mean, I’m used to that kind of faded, slightly muted look I’ve had for, what, years now? Suddenly everything is… brighter? More saturated? I don’t know the right words, I’m not a graphic designer! It’s kinda like when they changed the Facebook layout – that took me forever to get used to. Remember that?

Apparently, it’s a “small visual refresh,” according to something I read. Small! Ha! It feels pretty big to me. They’re rolling it out to fancy new phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Google Pixel 9 Pro – guess I’m not that fancy, huh? My old Pixel 4a is probably considered an antique by now. I was hoping for a new phone this year, but… you know how it is. Bills, bills, bills!

But anyway, the point is, this new color scheme is supposedly supposed to make the app “better,” more pleasing to the eye, all that jazz. I’m still getting used to it. Honestly, I kinda liked the old look better. It was familiar. Comfy, even. Now it’s like I’ve got new neighbors – different, not necessarily bad, just… different. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll get used to it eventually. Maybe. I hope so, otherwise I’m going to have to learn how to use a map and compass again, which is seriously not happening.