Google removes tappable shortcuts from search app

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Google has quietly dropped the tappable shortcuts feature the company released just about a year ago in the Google search app. That feature aimed at giving you a quick way to access Google features without having to search for them.

Andy B. from the Google Search & Assistant team wrote in a Google help thread that the feature was indeed removed to give more prominence to the new feed experience in the search app, which will make it “easier than ever to discover and explore what matters to you,” he added.

Andy B. wrote:

Andy from Google here — first of all, many thanks for your reports and feedback. I wanted to first confirm that this is an intentional feature change. As we move to the new feed experience for the Search app, which makes it easier than ever to discover and explore what matters to you, we’ve decided to remove the shortcuts feature.

We’re constantly working to improve the experience though, so please continue to leave in-app feedback.

it may be that the tappable shortcuts feature was not used as much as Google expected, and Google ultimately decided to remove the feature. Google is constantly trying new features, user interfaces and experiments, and it should come as no surprise that Google removed a prominent feature in their search app if they feel it was not used much.

Here is a video of this feature when it launched last March: