Android 15’s Material You theming system has been facing an issue where the color palette options are being duplicated, leading to fewer available choices for users. Typically, Material You generates around a dozen color palettes that are applied across the system for a personalized look. However, in Android 15, many users have noticed that some of these palettes are duplicated, which reduces the variety of color options available.
This problem was first observed during the Android 15 beta testing phase and has persisted in the final release. Some reports initially claimed that the issue did not exist in Android 14, but further investigation reveals that it was already present in some builds of Android 14, though it didn’t occur in earlier versions like Android 13.
For instance, the duplication issue has been spotted on devices like the Pixel 9 Pro XL running Android 14, indicating that this behavior started relatively recently but isn’t exclusive to Android 15.
Despite the duplication being clearly unintentional in the eyes of users, Google has officially stated that this behavior is “working as intended.”
This was confirmed through a post on Google’s Issue Tracker, where the issue was labeled as “won’t fix” because it was deemed to be functioning as designed. This response has left many users puzzled, as having duplicate color options reduces the customizability that Material You is supposed to offer.
One theory suggests that the system for generating the color palettes may not be producing enough distinct options, leading Android to duplicate some of them to fill the expected number of choices.
This explanation, while plausible, doesn’t fully satisfy users who expect a broader range of unique color combinations from the system’s customization feature. The theory suggests that the system may be compensating by filling the gaps with repeats.
Users are hopeful that Google will revisit the issue and offer a solution in future updates to Android 15. While it is not clear why Google considers this to be intended behavior, feedback from users may encourage the company to take another look and potentially refine the theming system to avoid unnecessary duplications.
