Thanks to the search engine on your phone, specifically the browser you use on your phone, you can access any information and search for anything in a matter of seconds. Having an Android phone, which is the focus of our discussion today, means that the browser on it works with the most popular search engine “Google”. However, this does not mean that you cannot change it to any other search engine. In general, Google does not impose its services on devices and Android phones – as it is responsible for developing the system. This means that you can benefit from other services, and Google search engine is a prime example of that. Now, let’s learn how to change it to any search engine you prefer, in more than one easy way.
Changing the Search Engine on Android
First Method: Through the Search Engine Selector Notification
If you have just bought a new Android phone and set it up for the first time, you will find a notification installed called “Search Engine Selector”. After swiping down from the top to show the notification panel, you should find this notification asking you to select the default search engine for both the search box on the home screen and the Google Chrome browser. If you find this notification, click on the “Setup” button and a screen will appear with a list of popular search engines available. Select your preferred search engine and press “Next” to have the app for that search engine downloaded in the background from the Play Store and set as the default search engine immediately.
Second Method: Setting the Default Search Engine from the Browser
To change the default search engine on Android, you need to first open the browser application. Since we are talking about Android phones, most likely you are using Google Chrome browser, which comes pre-installed on all phones running this system. By opening Google Chrome browser and accessing “Settings” by pressing the menu button ( ⁝ ) at the top, you will find the “Search engine” option. By clicking on it, you will see a list of different search engines, starting with Google, then “Yahoo”, “Bing”, and others. Select your preferred search engine, and it will be set as the default for all future searches performed through Google Chrome.
For Samsung Android phone users, Samsung Internet is the default browser. Therefore, if you are using it, you can easily change the default search engine from “Google” to another search engine. After opening the browser, click on the menu button (☰) at the bottom, select “Settings”, then go to the “Search engine” section, choose the default search engine. If it is not listed, click on “Add search engine” and after entering the search engine’s name, it will be recognized and set as default immediately.
It is worth mentioning that Google Chrome is just one example of browsers that come with a default search engine and allow you to change it to any other search engine you prefer. So, if you are using Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or any other browser, look into the settings, similar to what we did with Google Chrome and Samsung Internet, and search for “Search engine” to change it easily.
Third Method: Replacing the Search Bar on the Home Screen
For quick access to the internet without opening the browser, you can use the search engine widget located on your phone’s home screen, which is most likely from Google as well and is present by default on many Android phones and tablets. In most cases, you can replace the Google search engine with any other search engine you want. The only exception is if you are using the Pixel Launcher interface specific to raw Android versions and Google Pixel phones, other than that follow the following steps…
First, remove the Google search engine widget from the home screen by long-pressing it and selecting “Remove”. Second, install the browser whose search engine you want to use as a widget on your phone, let it be “DuckDuckGo” browser for example. Third, add the search engine widget you want to use by long-pressing on an empty space on the home screen, then when the “Widgets” option appears, click on it.
Now you will see a list of widgets that you can add to your phone’s home screen. Scroll through and find the browser widget you want to use for its search engine (in this case, DuckDuckGo browser), click and hold on it, then drag it to the part of the home screen where you want it to appear, and you have successfully done it.
Fourth Method: Changing the Search Engine for the Smart Assistant
Changing the default search engine is not limited to the browser and widgets only, but you can also do the same for the smart assistant or virtual assistant application. Many of these apps on Android systems use Google’s search engine as well, and in fact, there is an app called “Google Assistant”. Luckily, third-party browsers can also be installed as smart assistants, meaning that you can use them with the same gestures you use for Google Assistant.
To change the search engine for the smart assistant, open the “Settings” app on your Android phone, then go to the “Apps” section and select “Default Apps”. Look for “Digital assistant app” and click on it, then click on “Default Digital Assistant App” to see a list of available search engines on your phone. Choose your preference and try using the gestures with the new search engine.
By following these steps, you have now learned how to change the search engine in browsers, as well as in the search bar on the home screen and the smart assistant on your Android phone. If you change the search engine from Google to another one and then want to revert to Google, follow the same steps with selecting Google.
