Google now allows you to select search engine on device setup

Privacy
1

I recently setup a new android device running android 14 , and i saw that it asked for the desired search engine for the widget and even for chrome on the startup menu itself. No clue though why ecosia is on top.
I guess this was result of some recent cases against google where it was forced to provide search option to users rather than defaulting every android phone to google search.

Honestly I didn’t expect them to comply so soon. Still there are lot other places where it pushes its other google services in android phone (for example - the google one service)

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2

Was this because of the recent US trial?

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  • The five most popular eligible general search services in each country according to StatCounter (including Google) are displayed at the top, ordered randomly each time the choice screen is shown.
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Have to set up a new device (or format C the old one) for that option?

5

So privacy preserving options will always be lower because people block the trackers used for these statistics…

2 Likes
6

Seems like they will also install the dedicated search engine app if you select one of those.

Like if you select Brave, they will install the Brave Browser on your device.

2 Likes
7

Yep, we had that while testing a new device. DuckDuckGo browser got installed. Not that I wanted that at all.

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yeah right , i selected ecosia and it downloaded the ecosia browser for me.

I think it should work even if you factory reset your device and update to latest availble OS release for your device.

9

Good that you confirmed it! After all, it will be pretty cursed to see Brave Search being a default on Chrome but whatever :sweat_smile:

1 Like
10

So, it seemingly doesnt really allow you to select a default search engine in the default browser(s) (despite the wording), it just installs an additional one. A bit dishonest to say the least

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No it does set the chosen search engine on the default browser like chrome as well. It takes a little time to make the changes though. For me it did put ecosia as default search engine on chrome.

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That did not happen in a phone Ive tried. Selected Duckduckgo, it installed the ddg browser but google search remained the default in ColorOS’s default browser