Boost Your Android Home Screen Productivity with Google’s New Widget Shortcuts
Google Search Widget Shortcuts: A New Way to Access Your Favorite Tools
TL;DR
Google has been testing new shortcuts for its home screen Search widget since last year. With the latest Google app update, you can now choose a shortcut to add to your widget. Options include Translate (text), Translate (camera), Song Search, Weather, Sports, Dictionary, Homework, and Finance.
The Power of Convenience
Google loves building new apps and services, but it also loves finding new ways to make them easily accessible. When the company wants to promote something, you can bet that shortcuts will start popping up all over your Android device. After spotting early development efforts last year, we’re now seeing the arrival of new shortcuts in the Google Search home screen widget.
A Look Back
We first caught a glimpse of this system in September, when we discovered a new "shortcut" option for the 4×1 Google widget. This would allow you to select from several options to add a new icon to the widget for quickly initiating tools like translation or searching for current weather conditions. Later, we spotted an alternate interface with the shortcut separated from the widget’s main search bar, living off in a circle to the side.
The Latest Update
With the latest 16.3.34 build of the Google Android app, these widget shortcuts are now available for everyone. The look we’re getting is the first version of the interface we shared, with our shortcut icons directly integrated into the main search bar.
Choose Your Shortcuts
You have eight options to choose from: Translate (text), Translate (camera), Song Search, Weather, Sports, Dictionary, Homework, and Finance. You can also elect to add none at all and just keep the existing voice search and Lens icons.
Customization Options
In addition to the shortcuts, we also see the widget showing off the easy custom color sliders we previewed last fall.
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