Angular 21 New Features You'll Actually Use: HttpClient by Default, Smarter Styling, and More

What’s New in Angular 21? HttpClient by Default, Smarter Styling, and More

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Introduction

Have you ever opened Angular’s release notes and thought—“Okay, but how does this really change the way I code tomorrow?”

Angular 21 is around the corner (expected November), and instead of adding experimental complexity, it’s making your daily dev workflow simpler. Two of the highlights:

• You no longer need to manually import HttpClientModule.
• You can now use NgStyle with the new control flow template syntax, making dynamic styling cleaner.

By the end of this article, you’ll:

• See Angular 21 features in the latest standalone-first syntax.
• Get real-world code snippets you can copy into your apps.
• Learn how to test these features with modern Angular unit tests.

Quick favor: if this saves you debugging time, hit that 👏 so others can find it too.

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HttpClient is Now Default

Until Angular 20, you always had to add:

import { HttpClientModule } from '@angular/common/http';

bootstrapApplication(AppComponent, {
  providers: [importProvidersFrom(HttpClientModule)]
});

But in Angular 21, HttpClient is included by default. No more extra imports.

Example:

import { Component, inject } from '@angular/core';
import { HttpClient } from '@angular/common/http';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-users',
  template: `
    @if (users()) {
      <ul>
        @for (user of users(); track user.id) {
          <li>{{ user.name }}</li>
        }
      </ul>
    }
  `,
})
export class UsersComponent {
  private http = inject(HttpClient);
  users = this.http.get<{ id: number; name: string }[]>('/api/users');
}

Notice:

• No HttpClientModule import.
• Using the new @if and @for control flow.

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Unit Test for HttpClient (Angular 21)

import { TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing';
import { provideHttpClient } from '@angular/common/http';
import { HttpTestingController, provideHttpClientTesting } from '@angular/common/http/testing';
import { UsersComponent } from './users.component';

describe('UsersComponent', () => {
  it('should fetch and render users', () => {
    TestBed.configureTestingModule({
      providers: [provideHttpClient(), provideHttpClientTesting()],
    });

    const fixture = TestBed.createComponent(UsersComponent);
    const controller = TestBed.inject(HttpTestingController);

    fixture.detectChanges();

    controller.expectOne('/api/users').flush([{ id: 1, name: 'Sadhana' }]);
    fixture.detectChanges();

    expect(fixture.nativeElement.textContent).toContain('Sadhana');
  });
});

Clean and no NgModule needed.

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NgStyle Now Works with New Template Syntax

Angular 21 also updates NgStyle to play nicely with the latest template control flow. This makes conditional styling easier and more predictable.

Example:

import { Component } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-status',
  template: `
    @for (status of statuses; track status) {
      <p [ngStyle]="{ color: status === 'Active' ? 'green' : 'red' }">
        {{ status }}
      </p>
    }
  `,
})
export class StatusComponent {
  statuses = ['Active', 'Inactive', 'Pending'];
}

This now works seamlessly. No funky behavior, just clean styling logic.

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Bonus Tip: Combine with Signals

Angular signals make this even better:

import { Component, signal } from '@angular/core';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-theme',
  template: `
    <button (click)="toggle()">Toggle Theme</button>
    <div [ngStyle]="{ backgroundColor: theme() }">
      Current theme: {{ theme() }}
    </div>
  `,
})
export class ThemeComponent {
  theme = signal('white');

  toggle() {
    this.theme.update(v => (v === 'white' ? 'black' : 'white'));
  }
}

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Bounce Tips

• Always prefer signals + control flow over legacy pipes + ngIf.
• Use provideHttpClientTesting for mocking API calls in tests.
• Drop NgModule—Angular’s future is standalone.

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Recap

Angular 21 focuses on removing friction:

• HttpClient by default → fewer boilerplate imports.
• NgStyle compatibility → smoother dynamic styling.
• Plays perfectly with standalone + control flow syntax.

These aren’t flashy features, but they’re quality-of-life upgrades you’ll feel every day.

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Call to Action

👇 I want to hear from you!

• Have you already tried Angular’s new control flow syntax?
• Which Angular 21 feature are you most excited about?

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