Android 12 now has a device search API for third-party launchers

A month after Google released the second developer preview of Android 12, it gave us some hints about some features that Google might include in the final version. Among these features, there is a new search widget, which is prepared for Pixel Launcher. The search function will let users search for apps and contacts, settings, etc. on the device.

It looks like this feature won’t be limited to Android 12 on Pixel phones, as we have some evidence that this feature may extend to third-party launchers.Android 12 will make searching for content on your phone much simpler.

The developer of Niagara Launcher managed to find new evidence in the Android 12 preview document. The document shows that Google will add a new device search API in Android 12; this API will allow third-party launchers to have a universal search function. This feature will allow third-party launchers to "access the centralized AppSearch index maintained by the system."

The document states that the AppSearch index is a search library for maintaining structured data, with the following features:

• Completely offline stand-alone solution
• A set of APIs that allow applications to index and retrieve documents through full-text search.
• Provides APIs for applications to enable the system to display content on system UI surfaces.

Likewise, an application's API allows the system to share its content with other specified applications.

This feature will allow users to no longer use any third-party apps to get their work done, and will be able to search for almost anything on the device directly from the search bar. At present, there is no information about the implementation of this feature, but as the next Android 12 developer preview begins to roll out, more details can be expected.

Similar features are available on various third-party apps, but it would be much better to have this feature built directly into the Android 12 system, as it will add basic functionality to every device running this version of the operating system.