Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Pixel devices could soon receive a shortcut to Search’s AI Mode on the home screen.
- The shortcut will appear within the Pixel Launcher’s search widget and launch the Google app’s AI Mode interface.
- We’ve enabled it in Android 16 QPR1 beta to give you an early look.
Update, June 20, 2025 (1:55 PM ET): After slowly getting started earlier this month, this week it appears that the new Pixel Launcher AI Mode shortcut is rolling out widely. Here’s the new option popping up on one of our Pixel 9a handsets running Android 16:
Joe Maring / Android Authority
Update, June 6, 2025 (10:35 AM ET): We’re still not seeing this AI Mode shortcut actively appearing in Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 on any of our devices where we haven’t manually forced this early look, but we’ve now heard from at least one user who claims to already be seeing it live.
Discord user scuttlefield reports getting their AI Mode button ahead of what seems to be nearly everyone else. For the moment, we can’t say if that’s a glitch, they’re just very lucky, or if Google is being positively glacial with its approach to making the change available. If you happen to see it on any of your phones, too, give us a shout down in the comments.
Original article, June 5, 2025 (10:34 AM ET): Google introduced Search’s AI Mode earlier this year to help users find answers to complex, multi-part questions. Currently, you can access it on the web or by heading to the Google app on your phone and tapping the AI Mode button. However, Google is working on a new shortcut to give Pixel users quicker access to the feature.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Google plans to add an AI Mode shortcut to the Pixel Launcher’s search widget, giving Pixel users access to the feature right on the home screen. We first spotted references to this shortcut in the second Android 16 beta and got a look at its icon. Although it’s still not live in the Android 16 QPR1 beta, we’ve now enabled it manually to give you an early look.
As we showcased in a mockup earlier this year, the AI Mode shortcut appears to the left of the voice search and Lens shortcuts in the Pixel Launcher’s search widget. The AI Mode icon features Google’s signature colors, but adapts to the system colors if you enable the “Themed icons” option. Tapping on it opens the Google app’s AI Mode interface, making it easier for Pixel users to start an AI Mode search from the home screen.
The AI Mode home screen shortcut could reach Pixel devices with Android 16. However, since it’s not live in the first Android 16 QPR1 beta, Google might delay its rollout to a subsequent release. We’ll update this post as soon as the shortcut is widely available.
