Google testing a rebrand of Google Feed with ‘Discover’

Abner Li | Sep 19 2018 - 10:49 am PT

Over the past several months, Google has been testing various tweaks to the Google Feed on Android. These design changes could now be accompanied by a complete rebrand of the feature to “Discover.”

Google is currently testing (via Reddit and XDA) a rebrand of the Feed tab in the Google app to “Discover.” With that name, there is a new eight-pointed symbol as the tab’s icon. Two versions of the bottom bar appear to be in testing, with one featuring just the icon and the other including a label. With the latest Google app beta, we were able to enable the latter iteration.

Meanwhile, there is also a colored version of this icon when users open the search bar. A prompt encourages users to “Check out Discover,” with a Google-colored version of the icon visible here. Compared to the ‘Google Feed’ name, Discover is more apparent and better reflects the intended functionality.

Check out Discover

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This is the same icon previously seen with one A/B test of the Google Feed that features large topic bubble headers above every article. Functionality appears to be unchanged, though the Feed design features heavy shadowing that might be toned down in the final iteration. These new designs have been spotted when opening the Google app, as well as to the left of your homescreen.

If rebranded, this would be the latest in a series of redesigns to what was originally Google Now. The Google Feed in 2017 focussed this stream completely on news articles and other topics that users would find interesting. However, with this revamp — that’s been building up over the past several months, it’s unclear if Google is planning on offering any significantly new functionality.