One of the things that we’re expecting to see on Android 11, based on the preview versions that we’re seeing, is that they’re going heavy on bubbles UI. You will see bubbles in your messaging notifications as well as quick access to notification threads. Another thing that we’ll probably see in a bubbles-looking UI is an Assistant Chat Head. We’re getting a peek at what it will look like through an APK teardown although of course this may not be what we’ll see once Android 11 rolls out.
9 to 5 Google shares that they have seen two strings in the Google app 11.21 that describe the Assistant Chat Head functionality. One is a tutorial that shows how you will be able to launch your Google Assistant by tapping on the bubble from the Google search toolbar in the Google app. The other string says something about how you can drag the bubble to the bottom of your screen if you want or need to dismiss it.
They enabled the early lock at the Assistant Chat Head on the Google app beta version 11.21. It looks like the current Assistant logo on a white background and when you tap it, it will launch the Google Assistant panel at the bottom of the screen. For now, that’s the only thing it does but since this is just an early look, it will probably be adding a more optimized UI later on so you get something that will take up more real estate on your screen.
Using the chat head to launch Google Assistant will probably be similar to what we’re seeing currently with the messages that are on Bubbles. While it’s not really a messaging app, you’re still “talking” to your digital assistant and it will reply to you and your other follow-up questions and commands. It will be useful for when you’re using Assistant and multitasking with other apps so it will be easier to access and get back to your “conversation” with it.
Of course since it’s just an APK teardown, this may not be the final look of the Assistant Chat Head, They may even not release said feature if the beta testing doesn’t go well. We’ll find out a few months from now.
