Google app on Android will let you disable Doodles in home screen widget

Google app on Android will let you disable Doodles in the home screen widget. If you don't like the little animation that shows up when you unlock your phone, or during special events in the year, you can turn it off. To disable the feature, head to the Labs testing section in the app and select "Search widget doodles." You can then turn the option off there. 

Unfortunately, Google hasn't rolled the feature to everyone. You can check out if you have it by heading into the app and click on the More in the bottom right corner of the app. You can select Labs there. Labs is a way for Android users to play around with experimental Google app features. There are three available features: Search Weight Doodles, Pinch to zoom on search results, and Screenshot editing.

Source: Android Police

Google introduces a new 'Watchlist' feature

A new feature in the Google app will make it easier for you to keep track of the shows and movies you've watched and want to watch. Some users on Reddit spotted a new card underneath the trailer tab with buttons "Watched It?" with a checkmark and "Watchlist" with a bookmark icon. Not all users seem to have access to this feature yet. But it's accessible through the Google app for iOS and Android or on the web.

If you tap on the Watched It button, this will then change to Watched. Meanwhile, if you select the Watchlist button, the movie or show will be added to Google's bookmark list, which you can access through this link (google.com/save). There you will see a new Watchlist collection with cover art featuring the movies and shows. One other way to see your list is to type "My watchlist" into the Google search bar, which shows your complete list as well as film release dates. There doesn't seem to be a way to see what you've watched, unfortunately.

Source: 9to5Google

Google app and Google Assistant next to get dark theme

After showing up for both the Play Store and Gmail recently, the latest Google apps to get dark mode are the Google app and the Google Assistant. This rollout will be the second time Google rolled out the dark theme for the Google app after a select number of users got it back in June. But this will be the first time Google Assistant will be getting this option. A server-side update is bringing the dark theme to some users, so expect to wait for a bit before it becomes widely available. The update is reportedly showing up for users in the US, the UK, and Australia. 

And interestingly enough, it's also showing up for some Android Pie users. It allows them to choose between light and dark themes or to have it switch automatically when Battery Saver is enabled. One thing Android Central noted is that the Google Podcasts service within the Google app still has the Material White theme.

Google app gets ‘In this video’ bookmarks for YouTube search results

One useful feature showing up on the Google app will make it easier to watch instructional videos on YouTube. There’s a new “In this video” bookmark/scrolling timeline showing up at the bottom of some videos. You can see a timeline of the video studded with marked timestamps and descriptions of what those parts are. Some of the videos even come with thumbnails. If you tap on these titles or thumbnails, you will be redirected to that part of the clip. It seems like Google hasn’t completely rolled out this feature yet, with some of Android Police’s tipsters claiming the feature is showing up in the beta version of the app. So, you don’t have to worry if it isn’t showing up for you right now.