Joe Maring / Android Authority
One of my favorite things about Google’s Pixel phones is the persistent Google Search bar at the bottom of the home screen. It’s such a simple feature, but having that constant access to Google, and right by my thumb, is a huge convenience.
Earlier this month, we reported that Google was getting ready to change that search bar by adding yet another shortcut to it — this time, one for Google AI Mode. That shortcut now appears to be widely rolling out to Pixel phones running Android 16, as my Pixel 9a just received it the other day.
And I’ve got to be honest: I hate it.
The Google Search bar on Pixel phones is a mess
Joe Maring / Android Authority
With this latest addition, the search bar now serves four main functions: performing a regular Google Search, using AI Mode, starting a voice search, and launching Google Lens.
Having so much functionality crammed into a single area is, objectively, a good use of space. However, as someone who doesn’t use any of those extra shortcuts, they aren’t helpful at all. I’m sure they’re great if you regularly use AI Mode, voice search, and Lens, but if you don’t, they just make the Pixel home screen look cluttered and messy.
Further, the more of these shortcuts Google adds, the less free space there is to tap the search bar for what I use it for: launching Google Search. It’s not that it’s impossible to prompt a regular Google Search, but the AI Mode icon is just close enough to the middle of the bar (at least on the Pixel 9a) that I’ve already accidentally tapped AI Mode instead of the regular search area when quickly tapping it with my thumb.
In the Pixel 6 era, the search bar only had the voice search icon at the far right — and I was OK with that! I could still tap just about anywhere to start typing a search, and for those rare instances when I want to say my search aloud, it was nice having the voice mode shortcut.
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