A few days ago, a new Labs section showed up in Google's search app on Android. In it, users are able to choose which upcoming features they want to enable and which ones they're not interested in. At first, only two options were there: Pinch to zoom on search results and Screenshot editing, sharing, and actions. Now, a third one has joined them: Search Widget Doodles.
Google started testing doodles on the homescreen widget last year. They're fun and short animations that show up on top of the G logo in the widget when you unlock your phone, and they're often limited to certain days of the year and special occasions. If you dislike them, you can disable them in Labs by toggling the option off. They should also still be accessible under the search bar's Preferences > Searchbox effects.
Left: Labs options. Right: Demo of a search widget doodle animation.
Labs still aren't available for all users, not even for all beta users of the Google app, so you need to wait until the server-side gods smile on you and grant you access to the section before you can change any of these settings.
Thanks: Anthony Maki