On Pixel smartphones and tablets, the search bar integrated into the Pixel Launcher is designed as a single entry point. It already allows you to search both the local content of the device and the web: applications, contacts, settings, online results, screenshots, suggestions from the Play Store or even actions linked to the Google Assistant (or Gemini). An approach consistent with Google’s philosophy, which wants to reduce the number of steps between the user and the information they are looking for.
Samsung already has it
But this “global” search still has a big limitation: it does not give any direct access to the tabs open in the browser. A paradox, even though Chrome is the default browser for Pixels and tabs are among the most viewed content on a daily basis.
Ironically, this integration already exists, but not on Google devices. On the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S11, the search engine has activated an option allowing recent Chrome tabs to appear in One UI, Samsung’s system overlay.
The mechanism relies on a discreet setting in Chrome, called “Share titles and URLs of open tabs with the operating system”. Once enabled, this option allows Chrome to transmit to One UI the list of tabs opened in the last seven days. Result: a search in the Samsung launcher can bring up a recently visited site, just like an application or a contact.
On the Pixel side, things could change quickly. The latest version of the Pixel Launcher, spotted by Android Authority in the Android Canary 2512 version, introduces a new option called “Show browser tab tiles” in the settings of the application list. The description is explicit: it is “ show tiles to resume browser tabs ».
For the moment, this option is inactive: it appears in the settings, but produces no visible effect. Google’s support pages dedicated to Pixel search still do not mention browser tabs among the indexed content. Everything therefore suggests that the function is still under development.
Nothing formally indicates that Chrome will be the only browser affected, even if its default status on Pixels makes it the most obvious candidate. Another point that is still unclear: availability on smartphones. At Samsung, the function is limited to tablets. However, the option was spotted on a Pixel smartphone, which gives hope for broader integration.
If confirmed (which there is little doubt), this new feature will further strengthen the Pixel Launcher’s place as the nerve center of Android on Google’s own devices. And it would also correct a situation that is strange to say the least: seeing a function developed by Google first arrive at a third-party manufacturer, before returning to its own products!
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