Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Currently, when you search for an app on the Pixel Launcher, tapping the bottom-right keyboard button searches the app’s name on Google Search. Some users are seeing that keyboard button change to an arrow/open shortcut, allowing you to quickly open an app right from the keyboard. Google only appears to be testing this with a small number of users, with unclear plans for a wider rollout. The Pixel Launcher‘s search bar is already one of its best features, allowing you to quickly perform a Google Search or find an app right from your home screen. According to some user reports, it appears that the latter functionality may soon receive a notable upgrade. As it stands today, when you search for an app with the Pixel Launcher’s search bar, the top result is the installed application on your phone. However, you have to tap the app icon in the results to open it. If you tap the search button at the bottom right of your keyboard, the Pixel Launcher (annoyingly) searches for the app name on Google rather than opening it. However, it appears that Google is changing this. As shared on the r/pixel_phones subreddit, typing an app name into the search bar now highlights it and autofills “open” next to the app name. More importantly, the search button at the bottom-right of the keyboard is now an arrow/enter button, and tapping it launches the application. Current Pixel Launcher search results New Pixel Launcher search results While a seemingly minor change on paper, this is way more useful than the current setup. Being able to tap the enter button right from the keyboard to open an app, rather than having to move your finger all the way to the top of the screen, makes a lot more sense. If you recall, this is actually how the Pixel Launcher’s search worked prior to Android 13 QPR1, and Google briefly tested bringing back the functionality in May 2023 (but ultimately never did). It’s possible this is another test that won’t roll out widely, but I sure hope that’s not the case. I checked four Pixels on my end, all running Android 16 QPR1 and QPR2, and don’t see this search update on any of them. There are also only a small number of reports about this online, suggesting that this is a very small server-side test at the moment. Let us know what you think of this change, and if you see it on your Pixel, on what model and with which Android version. Don’t want to miss the best from Android Authority? Set us as a favorite source in Google Discover to never miss our latest exclusive reports, expert analysis, and much more. to never miss our latest exclusive reports, expert analysis, and much more. You can also set us as a preferred source in Google Search by clicking the button below. Follow