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How does Angular Material's newer Material 3 design system differ from the earlier Material 2 theming approach?

Beginner

Answer

Material 3, Google's newer design system, introduces a more flexible color system based on a single seed color that automatically generates a full, harmonious palette, along with updated typography and component shapes, replacing the earlier approach of manually choosing separate primary and accent palettes.
$my-theme: mat.define-theme((
  color: (theme-type: light, primary: mat.$violet-palette)
));

// Material 3 generates a complete, harmonious palette from this single seed color
Real-world example A team upgrading their Angular Material app to Material 3 replaces their manually chosen primary and accent palette definitions with a single seed color, letting the framework automatically generate a cohesive, updated look.

Common follow-ups: What visual differences will users actually notice after migrating to Material 3?;Is migrating an existing app from Material 2 to Material 3 theming considered a big undertaking?