Google app's colorful new icon shortcuts start hitting beta testers

A good developer is one who’s both rarely satisfied, and open to possibilities. And when it comes to find out what really makes an app optimal, sometimes you’ve just got to throw everything you’ve got at the wall to see what sticks. A couple weeks back, we were checking out work in the Google app towards changing how you access Search, and in the process, stumbled across a new icon-based look for the shortcuts carousel up top. Now that change appears to be hitting testers everywhere in the latest beta.

At the time, we were more focused the Google app’s bottom bar possibly dropping its Search button, but we were also able to trigger a new look for the shortcuts that you can scroll through under the main Search bar. But Google had already started work on a revamp for this part of the app’s interface, replacing the text-laden buttons with clean, colorful iconography.

In the latest Google app beta 15.34, the team at 9to5Google has started seeing this new look for the shortcut carousel. More than just allowing additional shortcut buttons to fit on the screen at the same time, the shift away from those messy text labels (what was with the all-caps, anyway?) also shrinks the buttons enough to save a tad of vertical screen real estate. And even without the labels, the familiar icons here shouldn’t leave users feeling too confused about their intended functionality.

Really, we only wonder why Google didn’t bother taking this optimization one step further — there are only five of these shortcuts in the first place, and if the UI were a little tighter with spacing, it looks like we could fit all five on screen at once, without the need to scroll between them at all. We suppose it’s possible Google could add more in the future, though, so we’re willing to let this one slide. Right now, your options are to search a photo, translate text, solve homework, identify a song, or to shop for products in a screenshot. And with the exception of music identification, that’s all just Google Lens.

If you’re on the latest Google app beta, these changes could already be on your phone. Considering the quick progress since these first popped on our radar earlier this month, it doesn’t feel like it will be too long before they come to the stable release, as well.