Google Could Move The AI Mode Icon Front And Center
Sign in to your Android Police account
Summary
- Google is testing a new, more prominent placement for the AI Mode shortcut, moving it into the main search bar on Android by replacing the voice search and Google Lens icons.
- This change aims to make the Gemini 2.0-powered AI Mode, which offers enhanced search capabilities, more easily accessible to users who have opted into the experimental feature via Search Labs.
- Google might also be exploring adding an AI Mode widget shortcut for Android, similar to the new shortcut on iOS, to provide another quick way to launch the advanced search mode; AI Mode is currently available to users in the US through Search Labs.
Google’s March-revealed experimental Search Labs feature, AI Mode, is essentially a new way to search online that expands on regular AI Overviews with more in-depth reasoning, thinking, and multimodal capabilities.
Powered by a custom Gemini 2.0 version, accessing the new mode, up until now, has been limited to an “AI Mode” chip below the Search bar on the web, and an AI Mode icon below the Search bar on the home screen on mobile.
Related
Now, soon after Google began porting over Lens’ capabilities to AI Mode, the tech giant seems to be working on a simpler way for users to trigger the Gemini 2.0-powered search mode — one that replaces the familiar voice search and Google Lens icons within the search bar.
Spotted by the folks over at 9to5Google, the change hasn’t rolled out widely just yet. While the tweak doesn’t significantly alter the Search experience, relocating AI Mode to a more intuitive position (within the search bar) is a smart move to promote the feature’s usage. It can’t act as a double-edged sword, considering that the feature needs to be manually enabled via Search Labs — so users that aren’t interested in AI Mode wouldn’t see the UI tweak anyway.
Voice search and Lens relocated
Old (left), new (right)
For users that have manually enabled AI Mode, voice search and Lens icons will now be situated right below the search bar, as seen in the second screenshot above. Once tapped, users will directly begin typing their questions into the “Ask AI Mode” field.
Elsewhere, Android users might soon be able to add AI Mode as a Search widget shortcut. For reference, the functionality has already begun making its way to iOS, allowing users to hop right into the Gemini 2.0-powered search mode from their iPhones’ home screen. When the functionality might land on Android is currently unclear.
AI Mode is currently exclusive to users in the US. Upon launch, the new search experience was locked behind a paid Google One AI Premium, but Google subsequently expanded access to all. To try out AI Mode, you’ll need to opt-in via Search Labs.
Mobile
- Open the Google app on your smartphone.
- Tap the Labs button (flask icon) on the top-left.
- Navigate to the AI experiments section.
- Tap Turn on under AI Mode.
Desktop
- Head to the Google Labs website.
- Under New experiments/AI experiments, turn on AI Mode.
