A New Google Search History Privacy Feature Has Arrived Early For Android Devices
It looks like Android devices will soon receive a highly requested privacy feature. The Google Android app has long permitted users to auto-delete or manually delete their search history, but the provided time range has always been rather limited. Android users will now be able delete the last 15 minutes of their search history within the Google Android app.
The ability to delete the last 15 minutes of your search history was first available this past July on iOS devices. This feature has lately started to slowly but surely roll out on Android devices. Google spokesperson Ned Adriance remarked in a statement to The Verge that the company “expects it to be available to everyone using the app in the next few weeks.” The feature was purportedly supposed to appear on Android devices in late 2021, but was postponed for an unknown reason.
You can check to see if you have this feature by opening up Google’s Android app on your device. Tap on your profile picture and click on “Search History.” If the feature is available to you, you will have the option to “Delete last 15 minutes.” It is unclear at the moment if this ability will ever be possible on desktop. Google has so far only confirmed that it is intended for its iOS and Android apps.
The option to delete one’s recent search history is part of Google’s efforts to put “you in control of your data.” It announced several new privacy features last May including passcode protected Locked Folders in Photos and reminders that one has turned on their Location history. The Location history reminders were created so that users were not shocked when they saw places they had visited on their Timeline. The Locked Folders feature was first rolled on on Pixel devices, but is now available on a greater variety of Android devices. All of the privacy features have so far received positive feedback from users.
The ability to delete the last 15 minutes of your search history was first available this past July on iOS devices. This feature has lately started to slowly but surely roll out on Android devices. Google spokesperson Ned Adriance remarked in a statement to The Verge that the company “expects it to be available to everyone using the app in the next few weeks.” The feature was purportedly supposed to appear on Android devices in late 2021, but was postponed for an unknown reason.
At Google I/O 2021, Google announced it'd roll out an option to delete the last 15 minutes of your search history. This rolled out on iOS in July 2021 but was said to come to Android later. Well, it appears to now be rolling out!
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 18, 2022
Thanks to @panduu221 for the tip! pic.twitter.com/gdtAa1pIFo
You can check to see if you have this feature by opening up Google’s Android app on your device. Tap on your profile picture and click on “Search History.” If the feature is available to you, you will have the option to “Delete last 15 minutes.” It is unclear at the moment if this ability will ever be possible on desktop. Google has so far only confirmed that it is intended for its iOS and Android apps.
The option to delete one’s recent search history is part of Google’s efforts to put “you in control of your data.” It announced several new privacy features last May including passcode protected Locked Folders in Photos and reminders that one has turned on their Location history. The Location history reminders were created so that users were not shocked when they saw places they had visited on their Timeline. The Locked Folders feature was first rolled on on Pixel devices, but is now available on a greater variety of Android devices. All of the privacy features have so far received positive feedback from users.
