I’m not sure they are forcing Fairphone but it cannot be removed without further certification checks, then more if Fairphone want to incorporate a third party app ~ so it’s easier and cheaper to let the user install their own launcher to get rid of it.
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This is the reason why they ask during installation which search engine you want to use for the search bar.
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There’s the search bar and the search engine. In the FP3 I used the nova launcher to get rid of the bar.
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@ amoun
I guess that’s what I’ll be up to until /e/ or so is available.
That’s what I read of, but since the OS and search bar are installed already I’m curious at which point who will be asked. After registering to a Google account is too late imho.
but wouldn’t it be possible to make the google apps removable, including the search bar? I understand that in order to get Android certification from google, you have to ship it with certain apps (shiftphones has the same problem). But is it also a requirement to make them unremovable?
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You can remove them using adb , however, if you remove too many, system might become unstable.
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Something very easy to achieve and easily reversible:
download Hyperion Launcher, set it as default home app and go to Home options (long press desktop) → Widgets → Google Search and switch it off everywhere. It’s VERY similar to the default google Launcher but lets you customize all sorts of stuff… including the removal of elements such as the search bar and the “at a glance” thingy that basically just displays the date most of the time.
I use it and it works great. If it doesn’t turn out to suit you, you can always switch back to the default launcher under settings->apps and notifications->advanced->default apps->Home app.
There might be other Launchers that suit you even more but if you just want to remove the search bar… here you go.
Just a warning: It’s got an almost overwhelming amount of customization xD
I honestly don’t think any of that is very relevant to this debate when you can fairly easily install a different launcher. Google is no longer forcing you to take their complete GUI.
The issue would rather be that you need to have a bunch of google apps running in the background for your device to do basic things.
Hi all,
So I received my FP4 and I’ve got some customisation problem 
How do I remove this fucking google search box at the bottom of my screen ?
I can’t find the correct keywords to find some website which will explain how to do it
I does not manage to remove it like any other “widget” or icon (long press etc … )
Hi Kervador.
this f###g search bar can only removed by another f###g launcher 
Or in soft and normal words
You have to change your launcher. There’s no other way…For example: Omega or lawnchair
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I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything in the requirements that says the search bar has to be permanent on the preloaded launcher. I was able to remove it from my Samsung tablet’s One UI launcher just like any other widget (and replaced it with Nova soon afterwards, but that’s beside the point).
I heard there’s a certification fee that Google waives if you do everything they want regarding settings and pre-loaded things. I might be wrong.
But it might explain Samsung sidestepping some things.
On my FP4 I’ve replaced the Google search bar with the DuckDuckGo bar. I’ve also installed the DDG browser. Works like a charm.
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@AlphaElwedritsch Well… I don’t know why it’s such a big problem since you have to completely set up every launcher you use… and the FP Launcher is certainly not my favourite…
But yeah @Kervador you need a different launcher. If you want a step-by-step… i posted something not too far above. If you want basically the same launcher and just not have the search bar i can recommend Hyperion but there are other Launchers that look and feel about the same as the default launcher (which Quickstep is very close to)
It’s indeed a nice alternative, which is only asked once when you setup the phone. But the reason I don’t like it is because you have to install another browser while I want to use Firefox.
Lawnchair is great! But it’s a bit flaky. When minimizing an app, the launcher often needs a second to appear again.
That might be a general problem and not just lawnchair’s. I think I’ve seen something mentioned before elsewhere and I definitely have it myself with nova launcher.
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It also seems that Lawnchair crashes often since I rebooted and the fails back to the default launcher. Is that also something known? Maybe this question needs its own topic, I dunno.
Have you configured Lawnchair to be the default launcher? I don’t have any problems with it.
I have, but this setting is sometimes unset. I made a backup of the config, removed the app, installed it again, restored the backup and for now it seems fine again.
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