Google is testing Pixel Launcher update for some which adds ugly text to the search bar

Ben Schoon | Dec 15 2017 - 7:23 am PT

Google constantly changes up minor UI aspects of its various products, and often those changes aren’t received well by users. Currently, it appears that Google is testing a new change to the Pixel Launcher which adds text to the search bar, and it’s…bad.

First spotted by a few Android Police readers, this new change tosses a bit of text to the search bar which appears at the bottom of the screen on the Pixel Launcher. This text varies from user to user, but the general idea is to prompt searches on the web and apps on your phone.

Samples that have surfaced so far include just a simple “Search…” text where others say something along the lines of “Search apps and web…” As far as we can tell this is simply an A/B test, as there’s no reason why a specific text pops up or who gets it.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of this change at all as it feels like unnecessary clutter. Adding text like this just takes away from Google’s clean design, and it seems that most users agree so far. Hopefully, this is one change that Google won’t keep expanding.