Tricks to make Google Search widget more useful

The Google Search widget gives you quick access to Google Search and the Discover feed, along with Voice Search and Google Lens. But you can get even more value out of it with a simple trick.

Add new shortcut button to Google Search widget

Google is offering the ability to add new shortcuts to the Search widget on devices running version 16.3.34 or later of the Google app .

You can check which version of the Google app you're using by going to Settings > Apps > Google . If you're using an older version, update the app from the Play Store.

Once done, adding the shortcut button to the Google Search widget is easy:

1. Open the Google app on your phone.
2. Tap the profile icon in the upper right corner and select Settings .
3. Scroll down and go to Customize Search widget .
4. Tap Shortcuts and select the action you want to assign to your new Google Search shortcut button. Your options include: Translate (text) , Song search , Weather , Translate (camera) , Sports , Dictionary , Homework , and Finance .

When you select an action, you can preview how it will appear on the widget in the preview pane at the top of the screen.

With the new shortcut button added, it will appear on the Google Search widget on your phone's home screen. To use it, tap the shortcut button - the third one from the right. Depending on the action you assigned to the button, you will be taken to the appropriate screen, where you can view information or perform the appropriate action.

If you want to remove the shortcut button at any time, you can do so from the Google app settings. Just go back to the Customize Search widget page and tap None .

You will also see a Reset button in the upper right corner. Tapping this button will set the shortcut button to the previously assigned action.

Would it be useful to add another shortcut to the Google Search widget?

Shortcuts give you quick and easy access to features hidden behind multiple menu options and screens. The same goes for the new shortcut button on the Google Search widget, which gives you a few handy shortcuts in your everyday life with just a tap on your home screen.

For example, if it's soccer season in your country, set the shortcut button on the Google Search widget to the Sports action, then configure the league and team you follow accordingly. Now, whenever you need to know the latest score of your team, tap the shortcut button in the Search widget and it will take you directly to the live scores page.

However, if you're not into sports, there are still some useful actions. If you're in school, you can take advantage of Google's Homework action to find answers to your homework.

Similarly, the Translate (text) and Translate (camera) actions are handy. People who use Google Finance to track their current or potential investments can add the Finance action for easy access.

There are still some points to improve

Giving users a way to unlock more functionality from the Search widget is a good move, but the widget experience still needs some improvement.

First, Google has limited shortcuts to only 8 actions. Hopefully Google will support more actions to better meet user needs.

Second, as it stands, the new shortcut button isn’t useful on Pixel phones because they already have a Search widget on their home screen. Unfortunately, you can’t add new shortcuts to this widget, nor can you remove it.

The only way to use this feature is to add another Search widget to your home screen, but doing so will leave you with two Search widgets, which isn’t ideal.