The Google app testing a redesigned placement for its search bar

Google has been working on adding loads of new features and new looks to its apps, partly thanks to the Android 12 release. Now, 9to5Google reports about a design for the Google app that the tech giant has been testing, which places the search bar on top of Google's logo in the app.

Google testing search bar designs on Android phones

Recently, Google has tested a search bar positioned at the bottom of the app. Now, the tech giant is also testing a version in which the search bar is at the very top of your screen in the Google app. This look matches other apps by Google; however, it is a bit different than what the Google Search option has looked on mobile devices in the past few years.


The new design also allows you to swipe down on your avatar to switch between your different Google accounts. Additionally, there's a slightly visible line that devices your profile pic from the microphone and Lens icons on the left.

On the other hand, there's no change to the design of the Search (tab) result pages, which remain as they currently are. There is a compact logo and avatar with the bar coming after.

With this new change, there is now a uniformity feel across Google apps such as Gmail and the Play Store. This change comes to a set of specific Google Accounts (as it seems to be an A/B test), so it is not yet available to all users.

Earlier, Google tested the search bar at the bottom as well

In this tested look, the search bar is visible when you open the app, but disappears when you scroll up. Scrolling down makes it reappear. This seems like a pretty big redesign, as it changes completely the feel users have gotten used to on the Google app, and it may not make it to a final, global release, but instead remain as a tested option.

Apple had something similar introduced with Safari (moving the ULR search bar to the bottom of the screen), a change that remained widely unaccepted by users and ended up being removed with a subsequent beta version (the change itself was in beta).

Google has been changing the looks of its apps with Android 12 Material You

Android 12, the latest operating system for Android phones, has brought an interesting and visually pleasing redesign dubbed Material You, making things appear with more rounded corners and colors of icons and app matching your preferred wallpaper color scheme. With the new look for the OS, Google has also been changing the way its own apps look to better reflect the new design.

Many of Google's app, such as Gmail, the YouTube app, the Google Photos app, and other apps, as well as widgets such as the Google Drive widget, the Google Photos widget, and the YouTube Music widget, have recently gotten redesigns that reflect the looks of Material You. Along with the visual revamp, some of the widgets have been slightly retouched to show more relevant information at a glance, such as, for example, the Google Maps widget which brought navigation options right to your home screen.