Having said that, the change first surfaced in early February and has now taken effect with the latest stable release (version 125).
The Nearby places search, once accessible through the search field at the top of the app, allowed users to look for businesses nearby using their location. The feature’s removal means the search field now solely focuses on contacts, with the hint updated from “Search contacts & places” to just “Search contacts.”
Additionally, the “Nearby places” option has been eliminated from the app’s settings, where it previously enabled users to improve search results by including items from their search history and personalized results based on their location.
While some users found the Nearby places search convenient, Google has cited its limited usage as the primary reason for its removal. The reason behind the removal of this feature, according to the official blog post, “Only a very small number of people use this feature,” and added that the feature’s accuracy was not always reliable in their experience.
Google is now directing users to leverage its Search or Maps applications to find phone numbers of nearby businesses. The company believes this move will enable it to “focus on building the highest quality, most reliable, and most innovative experiences in phone calling.”
With the removal of the Nearby search places Google aims to concentrate its efforts on core phone calling functionalities, promising a more streamlined and innovative experience for users in the future.