Android Voice Search Toolbar: Search to Song Search

The microphone on the Google search bar used to do one job: turn speech into a regular web query. On Android, Google is testing a toolbar that puts Search, AI Mode, Search Live, and Song Search on the same screen.

The redesign showed up in Google app builds in early August 2026. It is not on every phone yet. If your mic still opens the older transcription screen, update the Google app and check again later. Where the toolbar is present, it sits at the bottom of the voice screen, in the same style as the mode switcher in Google Lens.

What the voice toolbar changes

In the previous design, tapping the four-color microphone in the Google widget or inside the Google app transcribed your words for standard Search. Song Search lived as a separate shortcut.

The newer screen keeps listening in one place and adds a bottom toolbar with four destinations:

• Search shows a four-bar waveform and a live transcript at the top.
• AI Mode takes a spoken question and returns a written answer you can follow up on.
• Search Live keeps a back-and-forth voice conversation going, with links from the web.
• Song Search still listens for music you play, sing, or hum.

9to5Google noted that Google remembers whether you last used Search or AI Mode and opens that mode next time. Availability is staged. Early sightings were in the Google app beta, not a single global switch.

Open the voice screen

1. Update the Google app from the Play Store.
2. Tap the microphone on the Google search widget, or open the Google app and tap the mic in the search bar.
3. If the new layout is on your account, look for the toolbar along the bottom: Search, AI Mode, Search Live, and Song Search.
4. Speak after the waveform appears. A transcript should show at the top in Search.

If you only see the old mic screen, the toolbar has not reached that install yet. There is no settings toggle that forces it on.

Use standard Search when you want links first

Search is the right mode for a short lookup: a store hours check, a spelling, or a fact you want to verify on a results page.

1. Select Search on the toolbar.
2. Speak the query. The four-bar waveform runs while Google transcribes.
3. Stop when the transcript looks right.
4. Send the query, or edit the text if a word was wrong before you search.

Editing the transcript matters. You can fix a name or a number without repeating the whole sentence.

Send the same question to AI Mode

AI Mode is built for questions that need a synthesized answer, not only a list of links. At Google I/O 2026, Google said AI Mode had passed 1 billion monthly users and that Gemini 3.5 Flash was the new default model globally.

On the voice screen, AI Mode is a destination, not a separate app:

1. Speak your question in Search, or switch to AI Mode on the toolbar before you talk.
2. When the transcript is ready, tap the forward arrow to send it to AI Mode.
3. Read the answer, then ask a follow-up in the same thread.
4. Open the linked sources if you need the underlying pages.

The stop button on the left returns you to a search box with the transcript still editable. Use that when the model heard the wrong product name or city.

AI Mode is not available in every country. If the toolbar item is missing, or tapping it does nothing, your account is outside the current rollout. You can still use typed AI Mode in the Google app where that tab appears.

For a closer look at conversational search on Android, see the Gemini 3.8 Live search setup.

Start Search Live for a spoken back-and-forth

Search Live is the mode for questions you want answered out loud, with room to interrupt and continue. Google expanded it on 26 March 2026 to every language and location where AI Mode is available, which the company described as more than 200 countries and territories. That expansion uses Gemini 3.1 Flash Live.

You do not have to wait for the voice toolbar to try it. Google’s own steps are:

1. Open the Google app on Android.
2. Tap the Live icon under the search bar.
3. Ask the question out loud.
4. Continue with follow-ups, or open the web links Search Live surfaces.

On the toolbar, Search Live is the same conversation style. It fits packing advice, a recipe adjustment, or a comparison you want to hear while your hands are busy. It is a poor fit for a one-word lookup. Use Search for that.

Camera input is part of Search Live in the Google app, separate from the mic-only toolbar. Use it only when the on-screen control offers it.

Identify a song without leaving the screen

Song Search on the toolbar keeps the earlier behavior. Google did not announce a new matching model with this redesign.

1. Select Song Search.
2. Hold the phone near the speakers, or hum or sing a short phrase if the screen invites that.
3. Wait for a match, then open the result in YouTube or your music app if one is offered.

Background noise still breaks matches. Move closer to the source before you retry.

What to do when a mode is missing

The four labels do not appear as a package on every device. Check these limits before you assume the app is broken:

• App version. Early reports tied the toolbar to Google app beta builds. Install updates from Play Store, then force-close the Google app and reopen it.
• Region and account. AI Mode and Search Live follow Google’s country and language eligibility. A work profile can also hide consumer Search features.
• Widget versus app. The homescreen Google bar and the in-app mic should open the same voice screen, but an old widget can lag. Open the Google app directly and tap the mic there.
• Default mode. If the screen always opens in AI Mode, you likely used that mode last. Tap Search on the toolbar to switch back. There is no separate “forget last mode” switch in current reports.

Paired devices are a different path. This toolbar is the phone’s Google search mic, not Gemini on Android Auto or a Wear OS watch.

Tips that save a second search

Keep the transcript. The stop control exists so you can fix one wrong word. Use it before you send a long AI Mode question.

Match the mode to the job. Search for a link you will open. AI Mode for a written summary with sources. Search Live when you want audio and follow-ups. Song Search only for music.

Do not treat the answer as the source. AI Mode and Search Live both point at web pages. Open those links when the answer affects a purchase, a medical decision, or travel times.

If you rely on voice because typing is hard, check the new bottom controls with your screen reader after the update lands. TalkBack still works in the Google app, but the toolbar adds extra buttons.

Bottom line

The Android voice search toolbar, where it has rolled out, turns the Google mic into a switcher for Search, AI Mode, Search Live, and Song Search. Update the Google app, speak, edit the transcript if needed, then pick the mode that matches the answer you want. Search Live remains available from the Live icon under the search bar even if the full toolbar has not reached your phone yet.

Sources

• Google, “Search Live is expanding globally,” blog.google, 26 March 2026.
• Google, “100 things we announced at Google I/O 2026,” blog.google, 20 May 2026.
• 9to5Google, “Google voice redesign merges AI Mode, Search Live, and Song lookup on Android,” 2 August 2026.
• Google, “Search Live: Talk, listen and explore in real time with AI Mode,” YouTube.