Google has released a new search "bubble" on the beta version of its Android app: here's what it is and how it works
On Google, by now, we search for everything, and often in a compulsive manner. It's a dynamic that is part of the new habits that we first acquired and then consolidated with the arrival of smartphones, devices that accompany us everywhere and that are now capable of responding to any need.
In particular, since the advent of the Internet, the evolution of Google search has grown exponentially, so much so that within a decade Big G has become one of the giants of technology and the web. The expansion of the Android operating system has certainly made a great contribution to the process: Google management has ensured that the giant's services have grown at the same rate, from Gmail to YouTube, passing through the main business, i.e. web search. And it is precisely the search that Google is committed to constantly improve, including methods to access it: a new one, always available and with nice graphics is about to arrive on Android smartphones.
How the Google search bubble works
The novelty is present in the latest version of the Google app released on the beta channel, the one dedicated to developers or those who want to sacrifice something in terms of stability and malfunctions (if any) of the app itself to have a preview of the news that Google could then introduce on the stable version. The version in question is number 12.44, which contains a very special and unprecedented version of the classic Google search bar on Android smartphones.
The novelty can be "docked" to the left or right side of the screen. The new "bubble" is very small and contains only two virtual buttons, without text: one, upper, with a magnifying glass, and allows you to type what you want to search on Google, the other, lower, with the classic microphone that allows you to dictate search keys. The search bubble, once activated, is superimposed on any screen, which is an important difference from the pill currently present on Android, which being "fixed" requires, for each search, to return to the home screen.
When the Google search bubble arrives
The moment the bubble will be available to all, Google will communicate it to the user who will be asked to choose, whether to use it or continue with the "old" search method. It won't be a definitive choice because at any time with a long press on the bubble you can choose to hide it completely or only temporarily.
We don't know if and when the new search bubble will be available to everyone. The fact that it's included in the Google beta app doesn't guarantee that it will actually end up in the stable version, but considering that you can choose not to use it if you want, making it an extra, non-binding option, the hope is that it will come and that it will come soon.