It's been a slow build, but we're beginning to see Android 12's upcoming design changes take shape. The newest developer preview features an all-new look to the settings menu, and now a long-awaited search bar is finally coming to the widget picker on Pixel phones.

Last month, Android DP2 included Google's latest redesign for selecting a widget on your phone. It's a more compact interface, and now with the addition of a search bar in the Pixel launcher, it's easier than ever to sort through all the widgets installed on your device. Each result uses drop-down menus to keep the list from getting overcrowded. Once you've found a widget you want to add to the home screen, just drag and drop from the search page.

At the top of the list, you may also see a few new widget recommendations, though they don't seem to appear for everyone.

For some users, the new conversation widget is starting to show up as well. Although it hasn't appeared on any of our devices — perhaps hidden behind a flag in DP3 — it seems that Google's latest messaging feature is almost ready for primetime. For now, we'll have to wait until next month's Android 12 beta to see if the conversation widget appears for everyone to try out.


For more about Android 12, check out our ongoing series coverage here, or bookmark our regularly updated changelog and check back in later. If you want to install the developer preview on your own device, find out how in our Android 12 download guide.