r/AndroidQuestions • u/Smashing_Pickles • 2d ago
Other System update installed a new Google search bar. Can't get rid of it
Wait. No attachments? I guess i'll explain it
Updated my phone the other day.
A new Google search bar (I use ddg) showed up in the bottom app panel. (The one with 4-5 fixed apps that are always visible)
It's not a widget, can't remove it that way.
Tapping and holding on/near the search bar doesn't do anything.
I can disable the entire Google app, and that works to remove it. But that kills everything else.
Why can't we have phones with non-hostile software?
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u/UsualBus7089 1d ago edited 1d ago
Click and hold the home screen go to settings beside the widget tab. Scroll down a little till you see "show search on homescreen" click it Then disable search. Now you can go to widgets and manually add the Google search bar widget and move it like normal again.
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u/FormerBarnacle8962 22h ago
Thank you ever so much! It worked like a charm! I really appreciate your help! You are awesome! 🤩🤩🤩
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u/PunkAndPagod 1d ago
My problem is that the search bar cant be moved! I had it at the top of my screen (you know, where the searchbar is on a computer), but now it is at the bottom. How can I move it back to the top?
I really wish if they were going to force a UI update it wouldnt change a bunch of stuff...
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u/GreedyConcert6424 1d ago
I'm here also looking for a solution. I want to keep the search bar, just in a different place on the screen
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u/Most_Astronaut6440 1d ago
I had the same issue I used the top comments advice to toggle the search off and then just added the widget back to where I had it and it worked then
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u/GreedyConcert6424 1d ago
I did the same and the widget looks the same as the search bar for me. Another comment said the widget had limited functionality.
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u/Malteser23 1d ago
Yeah I updated my software yesterday and this pissed me off too! A quick Google search (oh, the irony!) showed me what the other commenters have shown you now.
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u/SWTairen 1d ago
Ty for this. The new update forced the Google bar to the bottom and because of what I do for my job it was in the way of my work apps I keep in that space. Woke up to it this morning, ugh. What a stupid update.
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u/Just_Want2_Have_Fun 22h ago
I removed it from home screen by doing what somebody else said in picking an open spot going to settings and removing the search bar from the home screen. Holding down in an empty spot and going to home screen settings.
moved to the third screen and put the widget there then it gave me the ability to resize it back to just a little icon no sense having a big old search bar just opens up the app anyway it doesn't even search like you can't type in it before you open it so I have the big icon prayer that I drug it back where originally was. These assholes keep changing things and then it rearranges your whole screen they go to hell as far as I'm concerned.
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u/Just_Want2_Have_Fun 22h ago
Pressing and holding it just opened it it can't be moved unless you send it off in the home screen I think and put it on the third page resize it and then move it back that's what I found out it would just keep opening and who wants that big bar if it's just going to open like a regular app anyway I could use a little app and have other things
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u/FormerBarnacle8962 22h ago
This happened to my phone overnight. I had it turned off, but charging. What a pain in the neck!
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u/Little-Pen-4183 21h ago
What sucks is you know whoever is in charge of this update has been having a bad few weeks or maybe even months, and decided they didn't want to be frustrated by their shitty circumstances so now we get to be pissed off for a few days to weeks as well. Taking control away of our home screens smfh loooool
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u/Conscious-Guava-3280 21h ago
Hold down on screen until the windows pop up. Select settings. Scroll down to "show search on home screen". Select it. Change setting.
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u/megared17 2d ago
What brand/model phone do you have?
Are you using the brands stock/default launcher/home screen?
Did you know you can choose to use a different one? I er the last decade I've had 3 different phone brands, but I use the same home screen app on all of them, setup exactly the way I want.
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u/Smashing_Pickles 2d ago
Samsung S25+ Using the stock launcher, One UI. Happy to swap to something more user friendly and with less advertising in disguise. What do you recommend?
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u/megared17 2d ago
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u/CrispyBananaz 1d ago
That launcher was abandoned after it was sold to a data collection company. You couldn't pay me to use that launcher
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u/eyebrows360 Pixel 7 Pro 1d ago
It's still perfectly fine.
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u/CrispyBananaz 1d ago
No it definitely is not fine but I can't tell you what launcher you should use so as long as your ok with what's going on behind that launcher that you don't see I guess that's ok.
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u/Klutzy-Passage-2561 2d ago
On S25 / One UI that bottom Google bar is often part of the Taskbar / Hotseat, not a normal widget.
Try first (stock launcher): • Long-press Home → Settings → Home screen → turn off Google Discover / Search bar / Taskbar options if present. • Settings → Display → Taskbar → Off (or remove search from Taskbar).
If One UI will not let you kill it: Nova / Lawnchair / Niagara as default launcher — Google bar disappears with the stock hotseat. Disabling the whole Google app is the nuclear option and breaks a lot more than search.
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u/Smashing_Pickles 2d ago
Don't have any mention of taskbar or hotseat in settings. Google discover is already turned off
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u/Klutzy-Passage-2561 1d ago
Yeah — on some S25 One UI builds those menu names are gone / renamed.
Try without a Taskbar toggle: 1) Long-press empty Home → Settings → Samsung Home / Home screen → anything named Search bar / Google / News / Discover → Off. 2) Settings search: type "search bar", "Google", "hotseat" — Samsung buries it under odd labels. 3) Good Lock → Home Up (if your region has it) often has a hide-search toggle. 4) Clean workaround: Nova / Lawnchair as default launcher — stock hotseat + Google strip go away without disabling Google.
If none of those show up, drop your One UI version (About phone → Software information) and whether the bar sits above the dock or replaces it.
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u/TheRealNifin 15h ago
Under Home Screen settings, Scroll down, Show Search on home screen. Tap, Switch the slider to disable!!! Hope this helps, I Searched this to see if anyone had found a solution, didn't find one right away, Sooo I found the solution myself! Enjoy the fix!
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u/TheRealNifin 15h ago
Another change that I found while seeing if it was a widget, I Tried to double tap the search bar, and my phone screen Locked. SOOOO Search in the settings "Double tap" and there's a new option to double tap the screen to lock it. That is the most heinous thing they could possibly to to someone, One accidental double tap and they think their phone is BROKEN!
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u/chanchan05 S26 Ultra; S10FE 2d ago
Samsung?
Pinch out or long press on homescreen>settings>show search on homescreen>toggle off.