14 DAY TRIAL // Google has made it official and has announced that it's switching over to the new app launcher and retiring the old black navbar you see on top of most Google sites.
The company has been experimenting with this for a while and has tried to get rid of the black navbar for more than a couple of years, but it looks like it's finally found something to replace it with.
"If you're anything like me, you move among devices and Google products on a regular basis. You might check Gmail on your phone, for instance, then organize your Calendar via laptop, then browse Google+ photos from your tablet," Google's Eddie Kessler writes.
"Regardless of your routine, getting around Google should be seamless, and once you're inside an app, you don't want any distractions. So we're introducing an updated Google bar that streamlines your experience across products and devices," he adds.
The goal of the new app launcher, Google says, is to create a unified experience, one Google with one look, no matter what product you're using at any given time.
That's obviously a good idea and it's something that Larry Page stressed when he took over Google more than two years ago. He wants Google to be beautiful and unified.
However, the new app launcher, while more flexible in its placement, may not be a great "upgrade" for most people for a very simple reason – what used to require one click now requires two.
With the navbar gone, you don't see a link to YouTube, Gmail and so on, on any Google page. Instead, you have to click on the launcher and then select the app you want. This extra work is annoying to those used to moving around via the navbar.
There's another drawback, switching search context doesn't work as well now. For example, you can switch between an image search and a news search and retain your keywords relatively easy. But switching to YouTube from Google Search for example will simply direct you to the YouTube homepage. Previously, your query was carried with you.
Speaking of YouTube though, you may start seeing the app launcher on the video site as well, soon. It's not enabled now, but Google has been experimenting with the idea. YouTube has never had the black navbar, so the app launcher would be the first time other Google apps are integrated directly onto the video site.