Google detailed inbound changes for Google Search on mobile devices this week, putting more focus on actual “information,” easier to read text, and more of a lean into a “Googley feeling.”
There are five key things that Google highlights when it came to defining what this change was all about. I already listed a few above, but let me lay them all out here for you — Bringing information into focus, making text easier to read, creating more breathing room, using color to highlight what’s important, and leaning into that “Googley” feeling.
I know that sounds all a bit abstract and vague, but the key takeaway is that Google intends to provide more visual space for viewing search results, using colors to bring attention to important aspects of the search results, and making things appear more “bubbly” and “bouncy” to go along with the current gist of Google’s design language.
“Old Search UI” vs. New
As you can see from the above photo, it looks like all that’s happening, at least for the humpback whale page, is the removal of the bottom bar and return to the hamburger menu on the side. I suppose that’s confusing because we spent all this time ridding ourselves of the hamburger menu, but now it’s returning in this limited capacity? Don’t ask me, I don’t understand anything these days. It’s also possible Google already has me on the updated UI and I don’t even know it.
Be on the lookout for these changes to hit your mobile device in the coming days!
I’d be happy with the hamburger if you could choose what corner to put it in… say bottom right or left.
Meh… Hamburgers always come back. Look at the McRib…
so…it’ll just be in a bigger font?
Ah I see. It’s the “Developers got bored” affect. Cool. I guess we all get there at some point with our jobs.
I just use Duckduckgo anymore….getting away from Google as much as possible….
Smart move. I stopped using Google search engine when I realized many topics & links were being buried. Many friends & family refused to believe it until I showed them results from different search engines.
What did you find was being buried?
Its 2021- And we still cant dial in a G/Search with a time/history component on mobile ?
I don’t really care for that bottom bar but much better than the hamburger menu since Android introduced a gesture for going back which makes it a huge pain in the ass to slide out the hamburger menu.
Good lawd what a stupid decision. Bottom Tab bars are much friendlier. Whatever happened to ditching hamburger menus in favor of gesture navigation?
“…we spent all this time ridding ourselves of the hamburger menu, but now it’s returning in this limited capacity? Don’t ask me, I don’t understand anything these days.”
Don’t worry, Tim. It’s just another example of Google’s lack of cohesiveness and long-term strategy. Google does something, then inexplicably reverses course or abandons it completely. Typical Google pattern of one step forward, and two steps back.
I just never understood what was so bad about it. I mean, yeah it was sometimes clunky if the app also used a top or bottom nav bar but overall it was a great way to condense sections/submenus of the app.
I particulary miss in the Android system settings.
I actually use Snapshot frequently so hopefully that will be easily accessible somewhere
I miss the days when all the stuff in snapshot was on the main screen when you swipe left on the home screen. Back when it was called Google Now. I cared more about that stuff than an aggregation of news articles.