Key Takeaways
- Google app for Android is getting a new Notifications tab in the app’s bottom bar as part of a server-side update.
- The tab was previously visible within the beta version of the Google app, but has now expanded to all users of the app.
- Google is also testing an Activity tab for the bottom bar, per recent reports, combining the user’s search history and saved items, so there could be more changes coming in the future.
The Google app for Android can be deemed a never-ending experiment as the search giant often tests new features and functionality. Design changes come more often, though, and we recently stumbled upon a Material 3-adherent bottom bar for the app. But since at least May, the Google app has been working on a new Notifications tab in beta. Now, after several months and the appearance of other design tweaks, this tab is widely available to all users.
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As spotted by 9to5Google ahead of the weekend, devices running the stable version of the Google app can now find the Notifications tab in the bottom bar, slotting in as the last option next to Saved, preceded by Home and Search.
Notifications from the Google app previously sat within the bell icon next to the user avatar on the top right, but that icon has now disappeared. Contents of the Notifications tab aren’t displayed very differently from the previous implementation, though.
The notifications are separated by New For You (which can’t be seen in the screenshot above), followed by Today and Earlier as you scroll further down. These notifications are based on your interests and can be removed from the list via the three-dot overflow menu, with options to “Turn off notifications” for a given topic and “Send feedback.”
Are there more changes in the offing?
The Activity tab in the Google app
As detailed last week, the Google app for Android is also testing a new bottom bar tab called Activity. This tab would feature contents from the existing Saved tab while also offering a quick glimpse at your search history. If implemented, this would be yet another change to the Google app’s bottom bar, which has already seen a few in the past year or so.
But since not all under-development features make the final cut, it’s too early to tell if this consolidated tab for your search history and saved items will reach the stable version of the Google app. Meanwhile, the Notifications tab is making it to devices as part of a server-side update, so you may need to force-stop the app if it’s not live yet.
