- An Android 17 beta contains hints that you’ll soon be able to remove the search bar on Pixel home screens
- This could possibly be part of the final Android 17 release, but it’s not yet available even in beta
- The May Pixel update is also rolling out, with various bug fixes.
We already know a lot about what Android 17 is likely to offer, but another major change has just leaked: it looks like Google might finally let you hide the home screen search bar on Pixel phones.
This search bar is a convenient way to search the web on Google without having to open the browser first, but it also takes up a lot of screen space. So if you don’t do a lot of searches, prefer a different search engine, or just like to open the browser, you’ll naturally want this feature to go away.
It’s actually surprising that it took Google this long to enable a toggle for the search bar, because it seems like it should be optional. But based on some research done by Android Authority in the Android 17 beta code, a toggle could be coming soon, as the code strings mention things like “customize the search bar,” “search bar settings,” and “show the search bar at the bottom of your home screen.”
These references suggest that it’s likely that you will be able to choose whether or not to show the search bar in Android 17, although the site was unable to enable this feature in the current beta. Still, the fact that there is code pointing to this suggests that it could be ready in time for the final Android 17 release, and we might even get a look at it during the next Android Show on May 12.
Beat the bugs
But while this feature might not launch for a while, Google is currently rolling out a smaller update for Pixel phones. This is the May Pixel update and it will be available on all models starting from the Google Pixel 7a and Pixel Tablet.
There are no new features here, but there are various bug fixes, including fixes for slow wireless charging speeds when the battery level is between 75% and 80%, and an issue where the camera app would freeze when recording video and adjusting the zoom level.
There are also fixes for issues that caused a flickering white dot to appear at the top of the screen, the screen to be blurry or frozen, and the keyboard to be frozen or incorrectly positioned in some apps.
These sound like some pretty annoying issues that are definitely worth fixing. The update has already started rolling out to some Pixel phones, but Google notes that it will roll out over the next few weeks in stages, depending on your carrier and device. So you may not have it yet.
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
