Google's Search Live is getting blobby new look

Google can't seem to leave Search Live's visuals alone. A teardown of Google app beta version 17.55.8 uncovered a new animation for the AI-powered voice and camera search tool, swapping its current gradient look for tiny, blurry, colourful blobs that shift at the bottom of the screen while the feature is active.

The animation is not the only difference found in the beta code. The present design of Live consists of the mic icon on the left, the camera icon at the centre, and the transcript icon at the right, with all icons having a label below them.

However, in the modified design, the icons have no label at all. Moreover, the position of the icons has been changed by placing the microphone at the centre. An animation of the wave form is found next to the microphone whenever the person is talking.

This isn't the first time Google has subtly redesigned what Search Live looks like. The previous design found within the older beta version had the addition of a glow that turned from purple to blue on the screen’s sides during the conversations, while at the bottom there was a colour-shifting light synchronised with speech patterns.

The new blob animation seems to be the next evolution of that particular design.

As is standard with early-stage APK teardowns, none of this is confirmed for public release. Features surfaced this way sometimes ship close to how they appeared in testing, and other times get shelved entirely or reworked before launch.