Global search not working as expected in Android 4.4

Question

I've got an application that has two search suggestion providers that both extend SearchRecentSuggestionsProvider, and I've set it up correctly in the manifest file with the following Intent filter and meta-data:

<intent-filter>
   <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
</intent-filter>

<meta-data
   android:name="android.app.searchable"
   android:resource="@xml/searchable_tv" />

The searcable resource includes android:includeInGlobalSearch="true", so that should be fine.

And I've obviously got a provider there as well:

<provider
   android:name="com.miz.contentprovider.TvShowContentProvider"
   android:authorities="com.miz.contentprovider.TvShowContentProvider"
   android:exported="true" />

This all worked just fine in Android 4.3 using the Google search application, but I've just updated all my devices to Android 4.4 and I am no longer able to search content within my application. Same thing goes for other applications that worked before the OS update, i.e. Google Play Music.

I've found a thread on XDA developers that mentions this as well, if it helps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47472102

Does anyone have any idea what's happening or how it can be fixed?

Update: I can confirm that it only occurs on devices with Android 4.4. I've tested on an Android 4.3 device using the latest Google Search update, and it works as expected. Looks like it's a bug in Google's update.

Answer 1

I found this commit in AOSP, which might be related: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/QuickSearchBox/+/ecf356c15143ab0583c64682de16d94a57f7dd1c

The commit message tells us that this feature was removed due to performance reasons (which might or might not be true, given that it references an internal ticket id and I didn't find a related issue about this on the official bugtracker).

Answer 2

I checked with contacts at Google, and App Indexing is replacing this. The documentation will be updated to show this as deprecated, and there is no way to get this feature to work on Kit Kat without system level permissions (as iDev showed above).

Answer 3

Google Chrome appears now as a searchable app since its last update (v31).

System Application:

Have try like this

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="com.android.globalsearch" android:sharedUserId="android.uid.shared">
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.GLOBAL_SEARCH" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SET_PREFERRED_APPLICATIONS" />
    <application android:label="@string/global_search" android:process="android.process.acore">
        <activity android:name=".GlobalSearch" android:permission="android.permission.GLOBAL_SEARCH_CONTROL" android:stateNotNeeded="true" android:theme="@android:style/Theme.NoDisplay" android:excludeFromRecents="true">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
            </intent-filter>
            <!-- This must be higher than the default priority (0), which
is what GoogleSearch uses. -->
            <intent-filter android:priority="500">
                <action android:name="android.search.action.GLOBAL_SEARCH" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
            </intent-filter>
            <meta-data android:name="android.app.searchable" android:resource="@xml/searchable" />
        </activity>
        <activity android:name=".SearchSettings" android:label="@string/search_settings">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
            </intent-filter>
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.search.action.SEARCH_SETTINGS" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <provider android:name=".SuggestionProvider" android:authorities="com.android.globalsearch.SuggestionProvider" android:permission="android.permission.GLOBAL_SEARCH_CONTROL" />
        <provider android:name=".StatsProvider" android:authorities="com.android.globalsearch.stats" android:permission="android.permission.GLOBAL_SEARCH_CONTROL" />
        <meta-data android:name="android.app.default_searchable" android:value=".GlobalSearch" />
    </application>
</manifest>