Google provides a vast majority of the core apps on Android, almost all of which are preloaded on Pixel devices, and even preferred by other OEMs developing custom Android skins. For file management, the company offers the Files app, also available in a lightweight Files Go version for underpowered Android devices. Google hasn’t fixed theflawed logic for calculating storage utilization, but it is working on a new Smart Search feature for the Files app, alongside minor adjustments to the app’s settings page.
Google is constantly adding new features to its app. In the Files by Google app alone, the company has been spotted working on aNearby Share redesignand support forstoring digital government documentsin India. Now,@AssembleDebug on X(formerly Twitter) has spotted the company working on a new feature called Smart Search. The feature isn’t to be confused with Smart Storage, which automatically keeps your internal storage free by deleting stuff that’s synced to the cloud.
Smart Search could simplify access important documents in the Files app
Interacting with AssembleDebug revealed the Smart Search will periodically index the documents and images stored on your device and run them through something resembling an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system. This would help the Files app automatically identify important documents like IDs, passports, etc., and highlight them in a newImportanttab in the bottom bar of the app. There should be a way to schedule the indexing scans to run in the background without hampering your day-to-day usage, but there’s no option to schedule them in the current implementation. You may see a notification with a progress bar when a scan of your device storage is underway, though.
You may see this notification when Files is scanning your device storage for documents
Smart Search should make it much easier to find important documents in a hurry, without the hassle of fiddling with advanced search tools available in some of thebest file manager apps on Android. It would also make search in the Files app more powerful, because users are currently limited to searching by filename, type, extension, or recency. The Smart Search feature is currently hidden behind a flag in the Files app, but AssembleDebug told us that anyone with access to the feature should see a flyout in the app when it rolls out to them.
This screen introduces you to Smart Search in Files, when it rolls out
This UI designed to introduce Smart Search suggests the feature will be turned on by default, although the flag is disabled for testers. AssembleDebug believes this behavior could change with a future beta version of the app. Google promises it performs all the required processing on-device to protect your privacy. However, users will have an option to disable Smart Search using a dedicated toggle on the Files app settings page.
Current sequence of options in the settings page(left); Rearranged options with new Search subcategory(right)
Speaking of the settings page in the Files app, Google is working on a slightly revamped sequence for the options. There are no fresh additions to the menu items, but the page is picking up a new subcategory calledSearch, which will include options likeClear search history,Pause search history, and the newSmart Search toggle. It makes the categorization of options more logical and is a step in the right direction.
There’s no information about when you could use Smart Search, but since it seems to be fully functional, we hope to see it more widely available in a future beta of the Files app.
