You know what’s super annoying? The absence of a solid universal search tool on Android. For a platform that is practically the king of search, it baffles me that Android still lacks a comprehensive search feature that can dug into my messages, contacts, installed apps, and even shortcuts.
Thank goodness for this free app that swoops in to save the day! This is always the first app I install whenever I’m setting up a new Android phone.
How is there still no Spotlight-like search on Android?
Still no universal search tool!
Even with tons of features and AI coolness st in, Android just can’t seem to provide a home base for Universal Search that we all crave. If you own a Pixel phone, their Launcher nearly takes care of it—you can look through installed apps, shortcuts, and stuff saved on your device.
But if you don’t have a Pixel, good luck finding a decent search tool! Here’s where my trusty Sesame Search came into the picture for years; it was everything we Android fans needed.
Sesame acted just like Spotlight, letting me search through all sorts of things—from my apps to messages, notes, and even Spotify and Google Maps.
Eventually, Sesame got snatched up by Branch, the analytics company behind Nova Launcher, which had me a bit worried. I was thrilled at first, but all that excitement faded with time, leading to the app unfortunately fading out.
The last update dropped on the Play Store in November 2022, bringing in support for Android R and S (you know them as Android 11 and 12). After that, as things started breaking down on newer Android versions, I clung to Sesame Search longer than I should have.
Pixel Search became my go-to substitute for Spotlight
And it won’t cost you a dime!
Luckily, a new challenger, Pixel Search, showed up as a fresh alternative to Sesame Search back in 2023. It brought Samsung’s Launcher-like search to any Android phone, and did I mention it’s free?
I have to admit, while it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles Sesame Search had, Pixel Search quickly won me over. It became my favorite app whenever I got a new Android phone. Then, bam! The developer kinda ghosted it after a few months.
Though I kept using it, the app started to have a crazy number of glitches, and the absence of features like fuzzy search didn’t help at all. But I persevered, relying on it even though it had plenty of issues.
Recently, though, a miracle occurred: the developer decided to breathe new life into it just a few weeks ago! After almost two years of dormancy, the updates began pouring in, bringing new features we so desperately needed.
Pixel Search 2.0 debuted with a fresh look, added widget options, and—big win—support for custom search engines and URL handling.
On top of that, new contextual popups means that if I look for a contact or location, I just need to long-press the results to find relevant actions—like calling, messaging, or navigating—super fast.
And guess what? The updates didn’t stop there. Version 2.1 is rolling out now, adding fuzzy search, speedier app indexing, and an option to use Perplexity AI as a built-in search engine. Plus, a big upgrade for the home screen widget—now it even serves as a calculator!
It saved me a ton of taps and helped me stay productive. For instance, if I want to shoot a WhatsApp message, I open Pixel Search, pop in the contact name, and hit the WhatsApp icon to dive straight into chat.
That’s way quicker than launching WhatsApp, finding the search bar, typing in their name, and then selecting the contact again.
If I need directions to a café, I get started by typing the name in Pixel Search, that gets a direct Google Maps result. I can even kick off searches in ChatGPT, Gemini, or YouTube Music through the app.
Almost every single part of Pixel Search is tweakable! From what web results to show, the order of search results, to setting default apps for file types, it’s all customizable—and I’ve been able to adjust the background transparency too!
I can totally change how many web search suggestions pop up, their order in results, and even options for email and zip file openings.
After everything, Pixel Search started out as my reliable app for Android, and now, with all these updates, it’s taken on a whole new level—now it’s just essential for me.
Shocking as it is, even with all these great features its still 100% free!
The ultimate Pixel Launcher search solution
Even Pixel users can gain from this
Google itself is steering away from Pixel Launcher’s integrated search on the home page, opting for a Google app-driven search experience, focusing on quick AI access.
The downside? This new search via Google app is a bit of a letdown.
It doesn’t check device settings, messages, contacts or even shortcuts nicely and isn’t nearly as speedy as Pixel Launcher’s search.
Given how dedicated they seem to AI, it’s unlikely they’ll undo this switch any time soon.
Lucky for us, Pixel Search presents an excellent way for Pixel users to retain the rapid, all-in-one search capability they’re about to lose!
In fact, the app mirrors the kind of functionality Google seems determined to narrow.
Pixel Search gives us the search functionality we crave
With Google seemingly uninterested in creating a universal search option for Android, Pixel Search climbed to the top as an essential app for me.
It’s a free and powerful resource that boosts my efficiency and saves me from fruitlessly scrolling through endless menus. At this point, I wouldn’t dream of using an Android without it!
