Google regularly keeps adding new features to its various products and services, and Chrome is not an exception. According to a report, Google Chrome will soon get an Assistant search button to its toolbar on Android. The company is working on this feature for quite some time, and a new Chromium code confirms the feature will come to Android only. It looks like Google wants to route all searches through the Assistant as the new “voice search” button will launch the Assistant search UI in Chrome itself. However, if a user’s phone does not have the Assistant, the voice button will default to the regular voice search.
Currently, the Android version of Google Chrome displays a voice search icon on the new tab page. And that too, is not connected to the Assistant by default. But now, Google is testing this connection by providing a new flag called “Omnibox Assistant Voice Search” to enable Assistant voice queries. This is after a long time the tech giant is considering to change the voice search UI in the toolbar of Google Chrome.
Voice Button in Chrome Toolbar Details, Availability
As said before, a new flag is spotted in the Chromium code by ChromeStory that intends to bring the Assistant’s integration into Chrome. A flag, termed Voice button in the top toolbar comes with a description “Enables showing the voice search button in the top toolbar.” If enabled, the flag will display a voice search button in the Chrome toolbar. This button will open an Assistant voice search UI when a user enables another flag called “Omnibox Assistant Voice Search.” And if disabled, the voice button will fall back to a normal voice search. You can see the flags in the attached screenshots.
Note that this button is disabled by default, and a user needs to enable it first to use the feature. Further, the Google Assistant feature will work only if the device has the Assistant app otherwise it will revert to the normal voice search.
Since this feature is still under testing, there’s no guarantee that it’ll come to all users in a stable release. It all depends upon the users’ response that the feature receives during the testing phase. And if it receives sufficient engagement, Google may release the new voice search UI in a stable build of Chrome in near future.
