Google has become the most used search engine in the world on its own merits. Many are the users who still continue to trust other options such as Bing, however, if you are looking for the answer quickly to a question, the simplest and fastest solution (worth the redundancy) goes by using Google.
If we also have an Android device, Google makes it even easier to access the search engine, since it is not necessary to open the browser of our device, since we can use the Google bar. If you still do not use it, we will explain below how to put the Google bar on your mobile.
Android has always been associated with widgets, although for some time to be part, many are the developers who They have stopped including them with their applications, Spotify being an example of this.
Although in this case, it is because due to the best ones introduced in the latest versions of Android, through the notification panel, we have access to playback control, so it didn't make sense to keep keeping a widget, at least that's the reason the Swedish company argued when it removed it.
With the arrival of iOS 14, Apple has introduced the widgets that we have always had on Android, however, they are merely aesthetic, since due to iOS restrictions, the user cannot interact with them, just view the content, quite the opposite of how Android users work.
Add the Google bar on Android
In order to add the Google bar to our Android device, the first thing we must do is download the Google application (if it is not installed on our device), an application with which Google focuses news, trends, notifications, searches in one place… This application, like all those offered by Google, is available for download free of charge.
- Once we have downloaded it, we open it for the first time and we select the account with which we want to synchronize all searches, in the event that we have more than one Google account configured on our device.
- Then we must perform the following steps to install google widget on the home screen of our device.
- Long press on the screen of our terminal where there is no widget or icon to access an application.
- Then, at the bottom of the screen, different options will be displayed to customize the home screen. Of all, we have to select Widgets.
- Next, all the widgets that the applications that we have installed make available to us will be shown, ordered by applications. In our case, we must look for the one represented by a search bar under the name of Google, not Chrome.
And when I say that we must look for the search bar widget associated with the Google application, it is because if you do not use Chrome as your browser, you will be forced to do it every time use their search bar.
Using the search bar of the Google application, when opening results, the device uses the browser that by default is configured on your device unless we want to continue using the browser included in the application.
What can I do with the Google bar
The Google search bar It works in the same way as the one offered by the Chrome browser of Google. The only difference is that we can open the search results in the browser that we have configured by default in Android, not with Chrome.
With the Google search bar we can search by terms through the keyboard of our device or via voice commands by clicking on the microphone located on the right side of the search box.
We can also enter web addresses to access the website directly without waiting for Google to show us the search results.
When clicking on the search bar, it will show us the search trends of our country, an ideal function for when we are bored or want to check the latest news in our environment.
However, the main utility that the Google search bar has for the user is to allow them instantly access internet results based on search terms, without first having to open a browser and enter them in the address bar.
How to customize Google widget
To access the customization options Google widget, we perform the following steps:
- Firstly, click on the G Google to open the application.
- Next, let's polish on More, located in the lower right corner.
- Finally, we click again on Customize widget.
Being Android an operating system that supports a large number of options when it comes to customization, Google allows us to customize the appearance of the widget, allowing us 4 configuration options:
- Bar shape. This option allows us to configure the shape of the search bar between square edges or rounded edges.
- Bar logo. Within the configuration options for the Google logo, select to display the full name "Google" or simply the initial "G".
- Bar color. If you don't like the white color of the bar, we can choose any other color that matches the theme or wallpaper that we have configured on our device. To do so, we just have to click on the last option and choose the color we want.
- Bar tonality. The last configuration option that Google allows us to modify in its widget is transparency, so that we can practically make the widget so that it goes practically unnoticed on the home screen of our device or establish a background without any type of transparency.
Another interesting customization option that the Google widget offers us, we find it in the possibility that in the search bar of the widget doodles are displayed that Google shows in the search engine temporarily for special events or holidays. This option is available within the configuration options by following these steps:
- Inside the menu More, click on Settings.
- In the Settings menu, click on General.
- At the end of this menu, the option named Doodles in the Search widget It shows a switch on the right side, a switch that we must activate so that these Doodles are displayed in the search bar.
How to reset the Google search widget settings
If we have been excited creating a widget for the Google search box and We do not know how to leave it as it was initially, we just have to follow our steps:
- Firstly, click on the G Google to open the application.
- Next, let's polish on More, located in the lower right corner.
- Finally, we click again on Customize widget.
- Then at the bottom of the screen, the text is displayed Reset default style.
When clicking on this last option, the Google bar will show the same look than when we add it to the home screen of our device.
How to remove the Google bar
If we have tired of seeing the Google widget on the screen of our device, why we just can't get used to its usefulness, we can permanently remove it from the home screen of our device.
To do so, we just have to proceed as with any other widget: press and hold the widget and we move it to the top of the screen where the Delete option or the icon of a trash can is displayed (it depends on the version of Android that our device has).
Once we have removed it, we will get an extra space to place, in the best case (depending on the resolution of the screen) up to 8 new icons.