A new beta version of the Google app was released earlier this month and a recent APK teardown revealed a number of tweaks and new features that may soon become widely available to Android smartphone users. The novelty list includes some tweaks to the existing customizable search bar, new changes to the persistent bottom bar, and additions to the personal search feature that should soon include results from Google Keep and Chrome.
APK teardowns can reveal lines of code within an application, and these bits of code can hint at new features that Google may be working on for an upcoming release. In the case of the Google app beta version 7.16, the teardown performed by 9to5Google reveals new tweaks to the customizable search bar that has been slowly rolling out to some users since October, such as a new option for changing the wallpaper on the “Customize” page and allowing users to match the background with the style of the personalized search bar. In addition, the “Reset to default style” option that could be accessed by holding down on the search bar has now been relocated to the bottom of the Customize page. Moving on to the Google app’s bottom bar holding various labels such as Home, Recent, and Assistant, this item is no longer hidden when performing searches and instead, it slides up and remains docked at the top of the on-screen keyboard. Some bits of code have also suggested that Google may be working on further refining the Search interface with a cleaner look and an edge-to-edge design in order to match the increasingly popular smartphone form factor known under the same name.
The Google app version 7.16 also appears to contain new references to “Routines” for the Google Assistant which can allow multiple commands to be issued with a single phrase, and lastly, the personal search feature might soon benefit from a new combined search category for “Documents” and “Web” which will allow the search function to show results from Google Keep and Chrome, respectively. In closing, it’s worth reminding that as is usually the case when it comes to APK teardowns, some of these newly discovered features may or may not be further refined and implemented in future updates, and only time will reveal the direction in which Google is heading next with the development of its flagship Android app.
