We’re nearing the stable launch of the Android 12 update since the fourth beta has been released this week and it has reached Platform Stability. There are no new features to see in the latest beta but what we’re seeing is the first look for the promised faster search bar for the Pixel Launcher. This is something that Android has been working on and if things go well, we’ll definitely see a marked improvement in the sometimes clunky and slow search bar that opened the Google app.
XDA Developers shared that they were able to make the new search bar work Android 12 Beta 4 but you will need root access if you want to try it out. The previous Google App-powered search widget is now replaced with a new search bar where you can find apps, shortcuts, widgets, settings, contacts, conversation, tips, and whatever it is that you’re searching for. You can also choose what results you’ll see when you search and if you need the keyboard to pop up when the search bar is shown.
Previously, the search bar simply led you to the Google App which is well and good if you actually meant to use Google to search for something on the net. But if you were looking for something within your phone, it didn’t exactly give you what you were looking for not to mention the fact that it was pretty slow in giving you the result you wanted. Now, the upcoming new search bar will even let you go to specific parts or tasks of the app from the app drawer.
One example was if you typed camera you would see options like “Take a video”, “take a selfie”, etc. This will save you a bit of time as it lessens the steps to getting what you want the app or the settings to do. It seems to be pretty fast as well in giving you results and options. The search bar uses an AppSearch API which is actually an offline and on-device search library. Developers can integrate it into their respective apps.
There is no definite date yet as to when we can expect the stable version of Android 12 to start rolling out but it might be soon. The search bar will be on the Pixel launcher so we don’t know if some version of it will eventually be available for other Android smartphones as well.
