Research has always been a central component of Android – the operating system is made by Google, after all. But one of the coolest tricks in the system was reserved for Google’s own launcher and widget: the ability to search your own apps and search results on the web at the same time. This capability may reach all launchers and applications in the near future, according to the developer documentation for Android 12.
To be more specific, we are talking about the behavior you see when you search the Google widget, either in Pixel Launcher or using any other launcher with the widget placed on your screen. This search accesses Google’s web search data and the list of applications installed on your phone. Third-party launchers cannot do this on their own list of applications. For example, the Nova Launcher drawer search has links to search for a query on Google or the Play Store, but it cannot populate the list with anything except entries from its own installed apps. It is possible to expand this with third party tools like Sesame Search, but at the moment it is far from a smooth experience.
Current search on the Nova Launcher application, limited to a list of applications installed on the device, without integration with the web.
The update was detected by the developers of the Niagara Launcher and posted on Twitter. The entry for the “AppSearchManager” API, according to its documentation, allows any application to activate the centralized AppSearch index, possibly including actions within the application. For example, searching a Google Document or finding a specific local photo indexed in a gallery application. This is a feature that reflects more powerful local search tools, as seen on Windows and MacOS, and even the standard search function integrated into the iOS home screen.
The OnePlus Scout search tool on OxygenOS
OnePlus has already built a custom search implementation similar to this one, and it’s one of the features that we hoped would arrive at basic Android. We haven’t seen this more extensive AppSearchManager tool implemented in the Android 12 Developer Preview yet.
