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Search bar placement and design changes are being tested for the Google app

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By Alan Friedman

Published: Nov 30, 2021, 10:34 PM

Search bar placement and design changes are being tested for the Google app

Changes are taking place behind the scenes for the popular Google app. According to Mishaal Rahman, former Editor-in-Chief at XDA and currently the Senior Technical Editor at Esper, members of the Google News Telegram group are seeing different placements and designs for the search bar in the Google app. There are both positives and negatives to these changes.

For example, one design change puts your profile picture inside the Google app's search bar where it can be tapped to access the settings (see image at the top of this article). Of course, the downside here is that the search bar is placed at the top of the display requiring you to have Jimi Hendrix's legendary fingers to reach it. The integration of the settings with the search bar is no different than what you'll find on Gmail and the Google Play Store.

This test places the search bar on the bottom of the display within easy reach although it doesn't offer the settings access integration

Another change being tested is one that moves the search bar to the bottom of the display. However, images show that in this test, the user's profile picture, and thus access to the Google app's settings, is no longer integrated inside the search bar.

Current version of the Google app on Android. Note that the arrow denotes the current location of the profile picture

Google loves to run so-called A/B tests where in this case we'd assume that some Android users will get the new search bar with the integrated settings access at the top of the screen, and others get the version with the search bar on the bottom of the display without the settings integration.

After the test is run over a period of time, Google grills Android users to find out which one they would like to see made permanent, "A" or "B." Which change will Google select, or will it decide to keep the status quo? Right now, it is anyone's guess.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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