Google is rethinking mobile search on Android and iOS



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As the company’s flagship product, major changes to Google search take a while to develop and are heavily tested. Google today announced a major overhaul of the look of mobile search with a focus on simplicity.

It starts at the top of the screen where the search box is now visually elevated relative to the company logo, profile avatar, and other elements. This extra depth replaces how the bar previously used pale gray outlines. The search filters that appear below are no longer capitalized, while the currently displayed category is simply marked with a narrow underline in black instead of blue.

Knowledge panels are currently distinguished by a large header that includes name, category, and carousel, while the background is lightly themed. The new design does away with that separate top section and makes it one with the Info and Image Gallery – which now features rounded corners – shown below.

One aspect of this redesign sees colors used “more intentionally to guide the eye to important information without being overwhelming or distracting.” For example, it emphasizes the subtopic carousel, which now displays each section in individual bullets. A spectrum of hues – muted to bold – was explored for this redesign, but Google opted for a solid background to keep it focused on the content.

Redesign of Google mobile search

Further down the page, web results now extend from left edge to right. While still housed in maps, the effect is much less noticeable with Google moving away from the shadows. Overall, this helps provide more space for the content and makes it look cleaner and less busy.

Another change sees the Google Sans font used in more places at a larger scale and bolder weight. Text in the company’s proprietary font is easier to read on a white background, and much larger in places, such as Knowledge Graphs. This helps users to quickly analyze the results.

“We want to make search results shine, allowing users to focus on the information rather than the design elements around it.”

The purpose of this overhaul on phones and other mobile devices is to make it easier to find by doing away with everything else. It is rolling out to the mobile web, as well as the Google Android and iOS apps, starting today and will be widely available in the coming days. Desktop Search already has a similar overhaul, but only for certain types of queries, like those related to COVID-19.

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