Samsung may soon let you pick your preferred home screen search service

Source: Android Authority

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

TL;DR

• Leaked code from One UI 9 suggests Samsung will let users choose between Finder and Google as their home‑screen search service.
• New settings will likely allow displaying Finder, Google, both, or neither on the home screen.
• This follows the One UI 8.5 rebranding of “S Finder” and adds a potential Google entry point similar to the Pixel Launcher.

Background

Samsung launched One UI 8.5 with the Galaxy S26 series, rebranding the “S Finder” app to Finder and giving it its own spot on the home screen alongside semantic search. While the stable rollout of One UI 8.5 is still pending for many devices, leaked builds of One UI 9 reveal further upgrades.

Leaked Strings

The following resource strings were found in the One UI 9 code:

Show search on Home screen
Choose your search service.
Finder
Google

These strings indicate that users will be able to select either Google or Finder as their default home‑screen search service, and decide whether to show the chosen service on the home screen.

Visuals

Graphics associated with the strings show several configuration options:

• Finder only (the current default in One UI 8.5)
• Google only
• Both Finder and Google
• Neither

The standard Finder‑only setup is already active in One UI 8.5; the leaked UI suggests the additional options will become available in One UI 9.

Current Implementation (One UI 8.5)

On One UI 8.5, Finder appears on the home screen with its own settings panel. The default Google search widget is also available, but the new option could provide a more integrated entry point.

Potential Behavior

• The Google option might open the Google app directly, similar to the search bar in Pixel Launcher.
• It could be a launcher‑level integration rather than just a widget, offering a seamless web‑search gateway.
• Finder excels at on‑device semantic search (photos, contacts, files), while Google would handle web queries, giving users the flexibility to use both.

Outlook

An APK teardown can predict upcoming features, but there’s no guarantee that all leaked functionality will reach the public release.

We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.