Kieron Quinn 🔜 NFC

In the first Android 17 beta, there's a change to the search box in the Pixel Launcher. Some sites are reporting this as "similar to the Google widget" - but it acually *is* just the Google widget. The methods to revert back to the old search box (internally called "one" search) also don't work

With this method you can set any app as the provider, but the widget must be set as "configuration optional", ie. if you add it to the home screen it doesn't open a configuration UI before being added. It also takes the first widget for a package, so apps with several widgets may show the wrong one.

In the first Android 17 beta, there's a change to the search box in the Pixel Launcher. Some sites are reporting this as "similar to the Google widget" - but it acually *is* just the Google widget. The methods to revert back to the old search box (internally called "one" search) also don't work

Chrome (looks a bit weird with broken scaling): adb shell settings put secure selected_search_engine com.android.chrome

In the first Android 17 beta, there's a change to the search box in the Pixel Launcher. Some sites are reporting this as "similar to the Google widget" - but it acually *is* just the Google widget. The methods to revert back to the old search box (internally called "one" search) also don't work

Will this change in the future to allow third party apps to replace Discover? Maybe, who knows. But what use would that be anyway when the list of allowed apps is server-controlled? Well... The setting is writable using ADB and can be set to any app, bypassing the check (also enabling the settings)

In the first Android 17 beta, there's a change to the search box in the Pixel Launcher. Some sites are reporting this as "similar to the Google widget" - but it acually *is* just the Google widget. The methods to revert back to the old search box (internally called "one" search) also don't work

This suggests that the change is actually more to do with antitrust, and also at the same time will finally allow people to change the search box - something that's been asked for for a long time.

In the first Android 17 beta, there's a change to the search box in the Pixel Launcher. Some sites are reporting this as "similar to the Google widget" - but it acually *is* just the Google widget. The methods to revert back to the old search box (internally called "one" search) also don't work

This is an intentional change, but the claims that it's being done to push AI mode don't seem to be (entirely) true. There's actually a hidden settings UI that only appears if you change the setting (presumably this will change later), which allows you to pick a search provider for the search box.

Salford graffiti hits different

After months of development and testing, tonight I've released uTag, an Android app and mod for Samsung SmartThings which allows the use of Galaxy SmartTags on non-Samsung Android devices. No root, no Shizuku needed.

You can read more about uTag's features, development, and what it allows in depth in a Medium article here: medium.com/@KieronQuinn...

After months of development and testing, tonight I've released uTag, an Android app and mod for Samsung SmartThings which allows the use of Galaxy SmartTags on non-Samsung Android devices. No root, no Shizuku needed.

uTag was conceived due to the state of Google's Find my Device (FMD) network. While it has improved in recent months, it is still, in my opinion, pretty useless in rural areas. I've done a deep dive into Samsung's network vs Google's in a Medium article here: medium.com/@KieronQuinn...

In Android 15 QPR2 and Android 16, Google quietly *finally* added support for RemoteViews in Smartspace. This has been a long time coming, and allows truly custom content in At a Glance. Well, now since it's there, it's also in Smartspacer - except, it's even better!

Since Android System Intelligence sources most of its data from notifications, it *might* also be coupled with the ongoing activities API (androidauthority.com/android-16-r...), but I doubt it. Native AAG isn't used by any OEMs except Google, so adoption would be very low.

In Android 15 QPR2 and Android 16, Google quietly *finally* added support for RemoteViews in Smartspace. This has been a long time coming, and allows truly custom content in At a Glance. Well, now since it's there, it's also in Smartspacer - except, it's even better!

I'm not sure what this will be used for in At a Glance without Smartspacer, there are signs of it being used in Android System Intelligence, but unless significant changes are made to how widgets are bound, I don't think native widget support is coming to AAG in Android soon.

In Android 15 QPR2 and Android 16, Google quietly *finally* added support for RemoteViews in Smartspace. This has been a long time coming, and allows truly custom content in At a Glance. Well, now since it's there, it's also in Smartspacer - except, it's even better!

Since Smartspacer already has support for loading content from widgets, it's already able to effectively "forward" widgets into Smartspace. This means that in the 1.9 update, you can now add 4x1 widgets to At a Glance,as well as everywhere else in Smartspacer (except OEM Smartspace)

After a few weeks in beta, Smartspacer is now released publicly on GitHub. You can get it at github.com/KieronQuinn/...

All my plugins are also open source: github.com/KieronQuinn/... and there's Wiki pages for making your own using the new SDK at github.com/KieronQuinn/...

After a few weeks in beta, Smartspacer is now released publicly on GitHub. You can get it at github.com/KieronQuinn/...

Not sure what Smartspacer is? I've got an article on what it can do here: medium.com/@KieronQuinn... tl;dr Smartspacer gives you full control over At a Glance on Pixels, making it possible to display custom content, while also keeping At a Glance's options, and it doesn't need root!