Earlier today we wrote an article about an updated Google Search app being included in the Android Lollipop preview that Google released to developers this morning. We talked a little bit about the updated app and how it didn’t take very long for developers to take the app’s SDK and post it online for anybody to download. Now let’s go ahead and take a more in-depth look at what changes Google Search, version 4.0, brings to the table.
If you take a look at the screenshots at the bottom of this post you will immediately notice how pretty the updated Google Search app is. It brings with it quite a substantial amount of Google’s Material Design that all the kids seem to be talking about these days and it just looks amazing. The new Search app’s cards are much more clean cut and good to look at, as a matter of fact, everything seems to be that way in the updated Search app. You will also notice that there is much more color in Google Now, something that we gladly welcome. Then we have the newly added hamburger icon that stands out in the top left of the search bar, tapping it slides out a drawer that lets you access reminders, customize your Google Now experience, settings, and help. Oh, and did we mention that the slide out drawer allows you to switch between and manage multiple accounts for Google Now.
Taking a look at things in a bit more detail we notice that the overflow menu button for each individual card has been moved just outside the cards themselves. This provides a much cleaner look to the cards, something we made mention of above. Tapping on those buttons will now slide the card down and out of the way and present you with options for that particular card. Moving on, if you open up the settings you will notice that they have also been touched with a bit of Material Design. The color, the font, and some of the buttons, such as the back arrow, are all born from Material Design and of course, it looks great.
Now we have come to our favorite part of the Material redesign of the Google Search app, the search bar itself. Tapping the search bar makes the hamburger icon perform the beloved spin into a back arrow. Tap the voice icon and ask Google a question, you are now presented with a beautiful, bigger blank-white square that seems to recognize questions quicker than before. Also something we noticed that may seem small but actually just shows Google’s attention to detail, is that the “g” that sits at the top right of the box when you are talking has a nice little drop shadow.
All in all the update to the Google Search app is an amazing one that not only adds more functionality, but also design beauty. We are absolutely loving it on our end but we want to know what your guys’ opinions are, drop us a comment and let us know.
