Around the time Fuchsia widely rolled out to the Nest Hub Max, Assistant Smart Displays gained a “Search” shortcut, which is now curiously opening Google․com directly.
The Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max feature an “app” launcher when you swipe up from the bottom of the screen. At the end of last month, Google introduced one for “Search” that is simply a magnifying glass icon. It’s placed against a light blue background, similar to “Timer.” Made by Google officially announced the addition two days after we spotted it.
At the time, tapping Search opened a page of text directing you to ask via voice. In recent days, using the shortcut takes you directly to google․com – notably, an older version – with the built-in browser. Hitting the search bar opens the keyboard, but no other controls appear. There should be a bar at the top that notes the current URL, lets you go back/forward, start text-to-speech (TTS), and adjust text size.
Meanwhile, once you enter a query, the results page does not feature a field to perform another search. As such, we’re not sure if this intentional or a bug with the new shortcut. It does not make sense for a voice-first device to make you use a keyboard, and this could be mixing up the “Hey Google, open [website].com command.”
However, the argument for the former scenario is that the Nest Hub is clearly showing a unique view just for Google Search.
We’ve replicated this behavior on a 2nd-gen Nest Hub and Hub Max running the latest stable firmware.
More on Nest Hub:
- Fitbit or Google Fit stats card can now appear on 2nd-gen Nest Hub homescreen
- Google explains how ‘Look and Talk’ works on the Nest Hub Max
- Assistant’s IFTTT integration is changing and requires setting up again
- Spotify on Nest Hub can now show real-time lyrics
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
