Employees of the 9to5Google portal found a hint of a significant expansion of the capabilities of the proprietary search engine in the launcher code for Pixel smartphones. Apparently, Google intends to implement through it access to content inside other applications.
When decompiling the latest version of the application available on Google Play, enthusiasts found the following lines of code:
<string name=”search_on_maps_title”>Search on Maps</string>
<string name=”search_on_play_title”>Search on Play Store</string>
<string name=”search_on_settings_title”>Search on Settings</string>
<string name=”search_on_youtube_title”>Search on Youtube</string>
4PDAassumed that it is about new opportunities for using the Google search string. For example, the user will not need to open Google Play to download an application or game – they can enter the desired name directly into the search widget. The same presumably can be done with a place on the map, a YouTube video or system settings.
At the moment, Google search allows you to quickly find applications installed on the device, and in the case of Pixel smartphones, also files in local storage. NIX Solutions notes that it is not yet known when advanced search capabilities will become available to users, and whether they will work on all Android smartphones, or become an exclusive feature of the “pixels”.