It appears that the Android 13 update has removed a new feature found on Pixel handsets that appeared on versions of the Android 13 beta. This was a unified search feature than aligned the search bar found on the bottom of Pixel home screens with the search bar found at the top of the Pixel app drawer. For example, with Android 13 beta 4.1 loaded, both search bars generated results from the web and the Pixel phone.
With the update to Android 13, the feature was seen briefly after installing the new build but disappeared following a reboot of the phone. You can tell the difference because when the two search bars were unified they both looked the same with the Google “G” logo on the left of the field with the Assistant microphone icon and the Google Lens icon on the right side of the search field. After the unified search feature unceremoniously disappeared, only the search bar on the home screen looks like this as the one on top of the app drawer now says “Search your phone and more” in the field.
Google spoke with 9to5Google and it seems that the crew in Mountain View is familiar with the problem. Google said that the unified search will return in an “upcoming release.” If you have yet to install Android 13 on your Pixel phone, go to Settings > System > System update. If you’ve been a member of the Android 13 beta program, once you have the stable version of Android 13 installed, you have a limited time to exit the beta program without having to wipe your phone.
The unified search bars on the left, disappeared with a reboot after Android 13 was installed
To do that, go to the Android Beta Program website, tap the box that says “View your eligible devices” and tap the opt-out box under the image of your eligible device. As long as you have Android 13 installed, now would be a good time to exit the beta program without having to delete the data from your phone.
The Android 13 update arrived much earlier than expected when it was dropped by Google yesterday, August 15th. Last year, Android 12 wasn’t made available to Pixel users until October 19th. Google got off to an early start by releasing the first Developer Preview of Android 13 in February. A timeline released by Google at the time hinted at a September release for Android 13.
