Google Calendar just moved its search button, possibly hinting at PWA support

If you’re using the Google Play version of Google Calendar on your Chromebook, you may notice that your search icon is a lot easier to find now. A new update to the app takes it out of the left side hamburger menu in the app and places it nicely at the top right of your screen. To see this change, you may be required to update the app or at the very least close and re-open it.

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I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve spent a few moments just looking for the search button to find an event that had passed. Being that I use the web app version of the service on my Chromebook nowadays, this doesn’t really affect me as much since it’s had a search button at the top pretty much forever.

While this is a small change, I’m sure I don’t speak only for myself when I say it’s a welcome and much-needed one. All Google apps and services pretty much utilize the top of their screen space to place a search button for ease of use – after all, Google began as a search company, so Calendar’s exclusion of this in a meaningful or at least obvious location has puzzled me for years. I’m thinking I’m spot on when I say that literally no one thinks to open the side menu to locate the search function.

Being that this update brings the Play app version of Google Calendar more in alignment with the design of its web app counterpart, I’m fairly certain that the company is gearing up to convert said web app into its next progressive web apps (PWA). Usually, when we see a unification of design elements across android and the web, it’s a good indicator that we’re about to see a shift in one or the other. It’s a great update for the Google Play app just because it makes more sense, but I believe that the very next step may very well be to replace the Play app with a web app on the Play Store as they’ve already done with Google News.

Being able to “install” the Calendar website to your device from the Omnibox with one click and use it more natively will make it easier for new Chromebook owners to have a more welcoming and familiar experience out of the box. For those installing it via the Play Store, the experience could be identical, reducing confusion between the two since they would be the same exact thing, only installed using different methods. Google is definitely gearing up to have more of its services available as PWAs via the Google Play Store, it’s just a matter of time.