Prior to the release of Android 13, the Google Pixel Launcher made launching apps directly from search a breeze. Type the name of the app into the search bar, and then hit “enter” to immediately launch the first app result.
After unceremoniously being removed from the OS, 9to5Google has spotted hints of the feature returning via an upcoming server-side update.
The returning functionality was initially spotted in an Android 13 QPR2 beta build, with strings referencing “Quick Launch” uncovered by the publication.
Being a server-side update, it seems likely that we’ll receive the feature independent of Android version. Rather than having to wait until the release of Android 14, the feature might silently show up sometime in the coming days or weeks.
The feature doesn’t appear to be widely available just yet, but hopefully it’ll be pushed out in stable form sooner than later.
You can find out more about Google’s upcoming Android 14 release here.
Via: 9to5Google
