10mo ago

Pixel Launcher now lets you switch search providers in EU

9to5google.com Google Pixel Launcher rolling out option switch to a different search provider in EU

Google is rolling out a Pixel Launcher update that delivers the ability to switch the default search provider from Google, but only in the EU

Was very excited about this but turns out I can only use DuckDuckGo app, not DuckDuckGo in Firefox. I'm afraid this feature won't really be usable for me since I rely on FF add-ons and synchronization.

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Being in the UK we miss out on all the benefits of the DMA but the Lawnchair project dropped an update a couple of weeks ago. It lets you change search providers and seems pretty stable and good enough for daily use.
GitHub - Lawnchair (Releases)
- I know it and I tested it but there are some problems:
  It's not as smooth as Pixel launcher. In fact, no other launcher is. AFAIK at least a part of that smoothness (particularly switching to multitasking view) is impossible to achieve for non-system apps. I'm very happy using Niagara right now but if not for this search situation I would consider switching to Pixel launcher just for this smoothness. Niagara is amazing but I miss normal widgets.
  DDG doesn't work correctly in Lawnchair either. It opens up the DDG webpage when you tap the search bar. What I want is to let me enter the phrase in the bar and only after I submit open the webpage with search results.
  Pixel Search looks like a very cool app which would be even better search provider in Lawnchair, but currently it's not really working as well. Instead of opening the Pixel Search app, it opens the app page in the Play Store, even though I have it installed.
  If you don't care about the smoothness, Lawnchair is probably the best option though. The two issues I mentioned probably will be fixed eventually, I'm even considering trying to fix that myself.
- But the gesture support is bad with custom launchers.

29 comments