Holo

ホロ / 2011–2014 / Style / Google UI

Google's design language for Android, introduced with 3.0 and pushed so hard that carrying it unmodified became a compatibility requirement for every 4.0 device. It rules a black ground with hairlines and lets a single cyan blue carry selection, focus and progress. It arrived as a guarantee as much as a look, since an app that asked for the theme by name would be drawn the same way even on a phone wearing a manufacturer's skin.

Holo — Android 4.1 lock screen (Galaxy Nexus), 2012 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5 · © Android Open Source project — Android 4.1 lock screen (Galaxy Nexus), 2012 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5 · CC BY 2.5 · © Android Open Source project

Holo — Android 4.3 alert dialog and list screen, 2014 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Android 4.3 alert dialog and list screen, 2014 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

White text on black, with sections divided by one pixel hairlines instead of filled panels
A single cyan blue at #33B5E5 lighting only selection, the underline of a text field, and progress
A full width action bar pinned to the top, and a strip of Back, Home and Recents keys at the bottom
Tab labels and list section headers set in bold, all uppercase

Best used for

Recreating an Android app screen from roughly 2011 to 2013 with the period's actual widgets and theme names
Building hierarchy in a dark admin screen from hairlines and one accent color, without adding panels or shadows

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Dictionary entry

Type: One geometric leaning sans across the whole interface, in two weights only. Tabs and section headers go uppercase with the tracking opened slightly.
Composition: A full width action bar is fixed at the top and a single column list fills the space under it. Sections are separated by hairlines rather than white space, and a strip is reserved at the bottom for the navigation keys.
Material: Ground is black or a pale #F3F3F3, text is white or dark gray, and rules are one pixel of white at reduced opacity. Restrict the accent to #33B5E5 alone and let it glow only on press, selection and progress.
Caution: Redrawing the widgets so they no longer inherit from the theme throws away the one thing this style buys you, which is looking identical across devices, and leaves your app the odd one out on a skinned phone.
Further study: how the Android 4.0 compatibility definition document mandated the unmodified theme / why Theme.Holo and DeviceDefault were kept apart, and when each is used / how Roboto came to be made for high resolution screens, and the traits of its letterforms

Related entries

Material Design (マテリアルデザイン)Same Google UI lineage.Compare Holo and Material Design
Metro (メトロ)Shared effects: Technique.Compare Holo and Metro

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/holo
Markdown: [Holo — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/holo)
HTML: <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/holo">Holo — IndexStyle</a>

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