Pixel Search App Now Compatible with Older Pixel Phones

Google's Pixel Search app is more than just a feature for the latest Pixel 11 series. It can be sideloaded and used on older Pixel phones, but there's a catch - your phone must be running Android 17 QPR2 Beta 5 or newer.

We tested this by installing the Pixel Search app on a Pixel 9 running Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6, and it yielded a functional search experience. However, attempts to run it on stable Android 17 QPR1 builds failed, indicating that the baseline requirement for the app is indeed Android 17 QPR2 Beta 5.

This suggests that Google could eventually open up official compatibility at least to older Pixels down the road. The company hasn't mentioned any plans for doing so, but it's a possibility worth keeping an eye on.