When it comes to Android UI, some of the industry’s brightest thinkers agree that Google’s apps need a sufficient bottom bar. Seriously, one-handed scrolling is difficult if important parts of the user interface are located at the top of the screen, out of reach of anyone but those with tiny phones or large hands. However, we have seen tantalizing evidence that Google is giving in to the push to include bottom-heavy user interface features. We saw experiments of a bottom search bar on some phones in April, while Chrome for iOS shifted its address bar to the bottom the previous year. And now it appears that Google is cautiously testing a new bottom-of-the-UI function.

What’s New with Google?

If you’re using the beta version of the Google App to open a webpage, you may have noticed a new persistent bottom search bar. According to 9to5Google, you’ll need to be running the most recent beta version of the Google App (v15.24) to see these changes, but they’re not yet rolling out to all phones, so this appears to be an A/B test for the time being. If you are one of today’s lucky winners, you should notice a search bar at the bottom of your Chrome browser when you access a website via the Google app. According to the images, it takes up some screen real estate, but not enough to detract from the overall experience.

To see if these capabilities are enabled for you, open web pages in the app rather than another browser like Brave or Firefox.

1. Launch the Google app and tap on your profile image in the upper right corner.
2. Choose Settings (you may need to scroll down a bit).
3. Scroll down and choose Other Settings.
4. Ensure that the toggle for Open web pages in the app is enabled.

If you did not make the A/B cut, there isn’t much you can do. But if you do have the new persistent search bar, make sure to tell Google how much you love it so the rest of us can experience the happy life you’re having.