Sunday 13 April 2014

Remove Google Search Widget from Jelly Bean


With my recent move for search only using DuckDuckGo I wanted to remove the Google Search Widget from my Nexus 4. This was not as straight forward as I thought. Trying to remove in the same way as other widgets does not work! The following is my process on a non root Nexus 4 from Google Play.

Process to remove Google Search Widget from Jelly Bean


  • Open 'Settings' then 'Apps'
  • Select 'All'
  • Scroll down to the 'Google' installed Apps and open 'Google Search'
  • Select 'Disable'
  • Select 'Yes' I to remove to 'factory defaults'
  • The Google Search App is removed
  • Important : At this point the grey search screen is present but it does not say 'Google'. You must reboot the phone.
  • After the phone reboot the grey widget is gone :)

Some Considerations

  • You cannot add other widgets in the space that was used by Google Search
  • It _may affect voice input with other apps (I don't use voice input)
  • You cannot access Google Now (I don't use this as I cycle to work so the commute is not relevant)
  • You can install it again from Google Play if you would like it back at some point, which I tested then removed again 

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