Google Drive tests a new search UI and starting tab setting while Google Keep tests bringing back the FAB

Google offers a vast suite of apps on Android and much like other developers on the platform, the company routinely pushes updates for its apps. The updates often introduce new features and improvements, and sometimes we’re able to discover upcoming features by reverse-engineering the app’s APK. If at times a feature is near completion we also manage to manually trigger it before it rolls out to users, giving us a fair bit of insight regarding its functionality. For instance, we were recently able to activate manual face tagging in Google Photos and we got a clear look at how the feature would work when released. Now, we’ve managed to trigger a couple of upcoming features in Google Drive and Google Keep.

Our Editor-in-Chief Mishaal Rahman has successfully activated a new setting in the latest version of Google Drive which will allow you to configure which tab opens up on app launch. The setting, appropriately named Starting Tab, can be found within the app settings under the Home section and it allows you to choose a starting tab from four available options. Additionally, Mishaal also managed to activate a slightly redesigned search UI in the app (as seen below), which now shows all the search parameters and users right at the top under the search bar.

The latest update for Google Keep has also received a UI redesign that Mishaal managed to trigger ahead of the official rollout. The redesign brings back the floating action button (FAB) to the bottom bar. The icons for creating a checklist, hand drawing, voice note, or image note have been moved to the left side of the bottom bar, with the FAB taking their position on the right. The button has Google’s signature colors in a plus shape and you can easily take a text note by tapping on the button. As reported by Android Police, the redesigned UI has already started appearing for some users. This leads us to believe that it might be a server-side update and should roll out to more users in the coming days.