Last year at Google I/O Google announced Slices, a new API to allow app developers to let users interact with app content from with searches within the Google Search app or the Assistant. As with many things announced at Google I/O, they often take a long time to come to fruition (if at all). Now it seems we are seeing the extension of Android Slices roll out to some settings on Pixel phones.
Searching for various settings-related items such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi brings up an in-line toggle for that setting in the search results. These results are noted by the app icon (Settings) within the list of results.
The results for search items appear as you are typing with the toggle appearing very early on in your typing for some (Bluetooth) but requiring more of the search term for others (Wi-Fi), much the way a usual search prediction occurs – see below:
Google has demonstrated other Slices examples for in-depth use which are more complex than the above examples but you can be sure that they will appear before too long. On the Android Developer website Google has also shown other examples of Slices in action and they can be used by any app developer out there to deliver fast app information to the user. Google’s other examples such as Mobile Data and Brightness Level do not appear just yet but keep an eye out for when they do.
With Google still looking to get more and more people to use their Search app you can be sure they will be rolling out more Slices to various System UI functionality in the coming weeks and months, making your navigation of your Android device much faster.
