Google updated the Lens icon in March 2021. It replaced the rounded square with a more simplistic camera icon. The company wanted to better communicate that tapping the button will open the camera. However, for more than a year, the new icon only appeared in the Google app. The standalone Lens app available via the Play Store still features the previous icon. Google also hasn’t updated the shortcuts to the visual search tool in other apps such as Photos. The new Google Lens icon is now showing up on the Pixel Launched search bar following the Android 13 Beta 3.2 update. If you’ve installed the latest beta update on your pixel, you should see the camera button on the right end of the homescreen search bar, next to the microphone button. Android 13 Beta 3.2 also brings back the “Always show keyboard” option when launching the app drawer. Google had briefly removed it “as the company implemented the new combined search experience”. The stable Android 12 has it and it should be back on stable Android 13 as well. The option is disabled by default on the current version. You can enable it by long-pressing on the homescreen for Home settings and going to the Search your phone menu.
The latest Android 13 release fixes several bugs
These are the only significant user-facing changes noticed on Android 13 Beta 3.2 so far. While more may be discovered in the coming days, Google has officially revealed that the latest release fixes at least five major bugs. These include the back gesture not working on some apps, the At a glance settings page collapsing occasionally, some apps crashing instantly after opening, the microphone randomly turning on/off without any trigger, and the Google Photos app crashing frequently. The new update started rolling out to eligible Pixel devices (Pixel 4 through Pixel 6) enrolled in the beta program. It will be available as an OTA (over the air) update. Google will likely release one more Android 13 beta version before the stable build is available for all Pixel devices. The stable update is expected to arrive by September. We will keep you updated.
