Pretty Pill: While you can't customize the color of
your Pixel search widget in Action Launcher, Nova will let you customize the color of the search bar to better match your wallpaper or theme colors.
Not exact matches
The two main differences are that the
search bar is at the top rather than below the dock and there's no At a Glance
widget, but depending on who you are, you might prefer that over the
Pixel 2's UI.
Unlike the stock launcher with the
Pixel 2 and 2 XL, Nova made the
search widget optional so you could stick with the older dock design if you wanted.
If you want your
search bar to match that of the
Pixel Launcher, then you need to use the Nova Google
widget instead of the persistent
search bar.
With the
Pixel 2, Google introduced a new launcher with a
search widget at bottom of the screen within the dock.
Google has moved the
search widget all the way down, which makes sense as the
Pixel 2 XL has a taller 18:9 display, it would be easier to access the
search widget from the bottom.
This will get you everything for the
Pixel theme except the Google
search bar, which isn't available in Quickbar but instead as a standalone
widget at the top of the
widget drawer.
An upgraded
Pixel Launcher (the app that powers the
Pixel 2 and first - gen
Pixels» home screens) moves the prominent Google
search bar to the bottom of the screen, where it's easier to reach, and adds an optional «daily briefing»
widget that shows the current weather, temperature, and upcoming calendar entries.
Features like the bottom - located
search bar, At a Glance
widget, and transparent app drawer from the
Pixel 2 were added to the original
Pixel and
Pixel XL with Android 8.1.
Additionally, Android 8.1 «Oreo» adds a Google
Search bar under the dock, a new «At a Glance»
widget on top of the Calendar and Weather info, and a new developer option for
Pixel 2 devices that lets users activate the hidden image processing chip for HDR + shots.
The
Pixel launcher brought the new «Swipe Up to Open App Drawer» option and some other UI changes like Dock background, round icons and not to forget the Google
search widget that displayed the Google Search icon as well as Date and
search widget that displayed the Google
Search icon as well as Date and
Search icon as well as Date and Time.
We've seen a few early looks at possible
Pixel launchers with the
search bar and various
widgets in different places, so it's tough to say if this will be exactly what we see on October 4.
Even after Oreo's public release, the
Pixel 2 was the first phone to introduce the Google
Search bar below the app dock, the At A Glance
widget, the dark theme that appears based on the wallpaper you use, etc..
The launcher picked up a huge update to version 5.0 last week, introducing several features from the
Pixel Launcher — tinted dock, pull - up app drawer, and the new
search widget.