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Google has begun rolling out a redesigned Search box that expands as you type, suggests AI-generated ways to phrase a question, and accepts images, files, videos and Chrome tabs as input. Google announced it on May 19, 2026, and said the rollout started that day in every country and language where AI Mode is available. A separate change, reported on April 29, 2026, relabels the search bar inside the Google app as “Ask Google.” The two are related, but the public reporting does not show them to be one identical update, and neither source gives a completion date.
Two changes that are easy to confuse
Most of the confusion comes from treating two separate reports as one. The first is a visual change to the search bar inside the Google app, spotted by 9to5Google among beta users. The second is Google’s own description of a redesigned Search box, published in its May 19, 2026 announcement on the Google blog.
| Item | April 2026 Google app bar | May 2026 Search box |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Reported April 29, 2026 by 9to5Google | Announced May 19, 2026 by Google |
| Where it appears | Search bar in the Google app and Android search surfaces; the report also says it appeared in the Google app for iOS | The Google Search box |
| Visible change | “Search…” becomes “Ask Google”; the G logo is replaced by a plus menu | The box expands to hold a longer description and offers AI-generated suggestions beyond standard autocomplete |
| Inputs | Plus menu: add an image from Gallery or Camera, switch to AI Mode, or create images | Text, images, files, videos and Chrome tabs |
| Availability evidence | Sightings among users of Google app beta version 17.18, as reported by 9to5Google; not a stated rollout plan | Rollout starting in countries and languages where AI Mode is available; no completion date given |
What Google says the new Search box does
Google describes the redesigned box as a way to ask a question in more detail, not only as a place to type keywords. According to the announcement, the box:
- expands to give you room to describe what you need;
- offers suggestions generated with AI to help shape the question, going beyond the standard autocomplete list;
- accepts several kinds of input: text, images, files, videos and Chrome tabs;
- continues to return a range of Search results.
Google does not say every feature is switched on for every person, and it does not say all results are generated by AI. Read the announcement as a description of the intended design, not a feature-by-feature specification for your phone.
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Elizabeth Reid, Google’s Search VP, framed the change around the goal of Search itself. In the May 19 announcement she wrote: “The goal of Search has always been simple: to help you ask anything on your mind — from quick facts to the deep, complex or hyper-specific questions that can be hard to articulate.” That is a statement of purpose, not evidence of how well the new box performs.
The Google app bar: what 9to5Google saw in April
The April report describes a more specific set of changes inside the Google app. Because it comes from one outlet’s observations of beta users, treat these details as its account of the interface rather than an official specification.
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The “Ask Google” label
The placeholder text “Search…” was replaced with “Ask Google.” The label signals that the bar is meant for longer questions, not only short keyword queries.
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The plus menu
The G logo was replaced by a plus menu. According to the report, tapping it lets you:
- add an image from Gallery or Camera;
- change the prompt to AI Mode;
- create images using the Nano Banana tool, the name the report gives for this option.
Icon changes
The report also says the familiar four-color treatment was removed from the microphone and Lens icons. This is a visual detail only; it does not change what those icons do.
Is the new search bar on my phone?
There is no single public switch that tells you whether your device has the change. Availability depends on several factors that the sources tie together only loosely:
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- Region and language: Google tied the May Search box rollout to countries and languages where AI Mode is available.
- App version: the April sightings were on Google app beta version 17.18. Stable-channel users may see a different build or none of the change yet.
- Platform: 9to5Google reported the app-bar change on Android and on the Google app for iOS.
- Timing: both sources date from April and May 2026. Neither establishes how far the rollout had progressed when you read this.
To check your own phone:
- Update the Google app from Google Play on Android or from the App Store on iPhone and iPad.
- Open the app and look at the search bar. If it reads “Ask Google” and shows a plus menu, you have the April variant.
- Type a longer question, such as a multi-part request, and see whether the box expands and offers AI-generated suggestions. This is the behavior Google describes for the redesigned box.
- If none of these appear, your region, app build or account has not received the change yet. Neither Google’s announcement nor the April report gives a timeline, so there is no setting to force it.
Neither source describes a setting to hide the new bar. If you find the change unwanted, the reporting does not show a documented way to turn it off, so do not rely on one existing.
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Yes, as far as the public descriptions go. Google says users will continue to get a range of Search results, and it presents the expanded box as a new way to ask questions rather than a replacement for ordinary search. Neither the announcement nor the April report says that typed keyword searches have been removed. The suggestions are offered to help you phrase a question; nothing in the reporting says you must use them.
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What the AI Mode figures do and do not show
Google has published two AI Mode numbers in 2026 that often appear next to coverage of this redesign. Both describe AI Mode as a whole, not the Search box:
- More than one billion monthly users for AI Mode one year after its debut, according to Google in 2026.
- AI Mode queries more than doubling every quarter since launch, a statement Google made in its May 19, 2026 announcement. This is Google’s own figure and has not been independently verified.
No adoption, performance or user-outcome figure for the redesigned Search box itself appears in the sources cited here. Treat any claim that the new box has improved results by a measured amount as unsupported until Google publishes one.
For the app listing, see the Google App page on the Apple App Store, which describes search, AI Mode, Lens, voice search, Discover and the search widget.
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The Bottom Line
The redesign is real but staged. Google’s May 19, 2026 announcement describes an expanded, multi-input Search box, and the April 2026 “Ask Google” bar is a separate, earlier sighting in the Google app. Whether your phone has either one depends on your region, app build and account, and the public reporting does not say how far the rollout has reached.
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