Some Google Pixel Users Reporting Search Issues, Pixel Launcher Update Suspected

Google's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones have been increasingly facing a lot of issues and bugs. Lately, an issue causing Pixel smartphones to freeze periodically was addressed in the June Android security update. Now, a few Pixel and Pixel XL users are reporting that their devices are not performing Google searches effectively due to some bug in the Pixel Launcher. The bug makes the Google Search pill entirely non-functioning for any search made.

A Reddit thread, spotted by 9to5Google, reveals that the Pixel Launcher's Google Search pill is not working normally. Users report that on clicking the pill, no search history appears in the widget, nor do any type of search suggestions for the entered query. To worsen the issue, the search widget is also not returning any search results even after pressing enter. The Google hotword 'Ok, Google' is also not reportedly working for some users. The likely cause that has been reported in the thread is an update (version 7.1.1-3862848) to the Pixel Launcher.

While it is still unclear if the issue is caused due to the recent update for Pixel Launcher, or some hidden bug in the Google app brought by the update, a phone reboot is reportedly diminishing the search issue for some users, though it seemingly returns for them after a some time. Other users suggested force stopping or killing Pixel Launcher and Google app to solve the issue.

Since the issue was first reported, many users have joined the thread to tell about the same problem that they are facing along with some working suggestions. Though the issue looks to mounting rapidly for all the Pixel and Pixel XL users, Google is yet to officially address it. Till then, if you are one of the users facing the same issue, rebooting or killing respective apps can possibly solve the problem.