A phone or tablet that comes with Android installed by default is almost guaranteed a good amount of Google-branded preset apps or widgets. Among the latter, there is one that prevails in each version: the search bar.
Its appearance is generic and gives the impression that it has not changed for several years. However, the system offers several options to configure or customize the Google search bar. Nor should we expect anything from the other world with a simple widget, but there are aspects that could make our day to day easier.
In this article we are going to review the customization options that this widget has and we will also extend everything it can do, with a third-party application that can be downloaded for free in the Play Store.
How to customize the Google search widget that comes in Android
We can change the color, transparency and shape of the Google search widget. There may be few options at first, but it may be enough for most users.
- Unlock the Android device.
- Touch and hold the screen to, in case you don't have the search widget activated, place it where you see fit.
- Find and tap the Google app icon, it's like a browser similar to Chrome but with the G icon.
- Tap your profile photo, it's in the top right corner of the app.
- Go to “Settings”.
- Among the options select “Search Widget”, then you will see the option of “Customize search widget”, touch it.
- Now you can customize the widget by changing the color, shape or transparency of the bar, toggling between the options that appear at the bottom of the app.
- When you finish the settings you wanted to change, you can tap the “Done” button.
If you want to improve the search bar features, you have to scroll down further in this article, because we will use a third-party application for that purpose.
How to enable Google search bar doodles on Android
In some situations, doodles (animated elements that appear in the Google logo) can be seen in the search bar widget. While we may rarely see them, they are likely to be a nuisance to someone. In the Google app we can activate or deactivate doodles.
- Unlock the device.
- Search and enter the Google application (it has a G as an icon)
- Tap your profile photo, it's in the top right corner of the app.
- Go to “Settings”.
- Tap the “Search Widget” option.
- You will have the control to enable or disable the doodles that appear in the search bar.
How to reset the Google search widget settings
There are two ways to make the google app go back to its initial state (in terms of personalization): you can indicate it by entering its settings or you can delete all its information from the outside by touching the “Delete app data” option.
In this case we are going to continue with the first way because it may be faster or you directly do not want delete all the data your Google app currently has.
- Unlock the device.
- Search and enter the Google application (it has a G as an icon)
- Tap your profile photo, it's in the top right corner of the app.
- Go to “Settings”.
- Tap the “Search Widget” option.
- Tap the “Customize Widget” option.
- At the bottom you will see a button to “Reset to default style”, tap on it and confirm the action.
How to remove the Google search widget on Android
If after all we've done you've stopped liking this widget, you can quickly remove it from your device by following these steps:
- Unlock the device.
- Long press the Google search widget.
- Drag it to the cross or a trash can icon.
And voila, that's all we can officially do. The information in this first part comes from the google support for android.
How to customize the Google search bar with a third-party app
The app we are going to use is called “CSBW Custom Search Bar Widget” and it is one of the best options out there (based on the number of downloads and positive reviews). This app has at our disposal options to adjust the bar with the theme or launcher of the device, different search engines and simpler things like cutting, copying or pasting a word.
These are the main features of the application, if you are interested in any, proceed to download it:
- You can customize all the elements that are added to the new search bar, to select the ones that are most useful.
- The bar theme can be more precisely matched to the overall theme of the device and it also comes with pre-designed themes to quickly apply to the search bar.
- An improved AI to make suggestions when searching for something by keywords.
- You can have search engines for different services, such as Wikipedia, Amazon, eBay, Spotify among others.
- Direct links to applications from the search bar can be customized.
How to perform a custom search in CSBW
This is another of the main features of the application, and it is very easy to use. You just have to enter the app settings and add a url that you want to visit later in the "Search Items / Personalization" section. This goes beyond customizing the Google search bar.
The step by step would be more or less like this:
- Copy the URL of the web page you want to save, just after using the search engine for that page. For example: https://androidguias.com/?s=Android&submit=Search
- In this example, we must remove the word "Android", which comes after the s=, because it is the keyword we are looking for. It is replaced by %s.
- Now we add to the custom search section, an element such as this: https://androidguias.com/?s=%s&submit=Search