&gt; <i>As a customer, I’m annoyed by having an un-removable Google bar in the recents menu on my Nexus device. No way to remove without modifying the OS itself (unlocking bootloader, compiling AOSP myself, flashing myself).</i><p>The search bar is part of the launcher and can be replaced trivially by any launcher you download from the app store. No unlocking, rooting or flashing required.<p>Maybe try the Nova launcher first. it&#x27;s fairly popular and quite configurable.