[ErrorNoBrain]

that annoyed me as well (pixel 8a)

but i just switched to my go-to launcher, Nova. I've used it quite a bit over the last years.

[brunoqc]

Wasn't Nova sold to some advertising company?

[microtonal]

Apparently LawnChair is a popular Pixel Launcher replacement now:

https://lawnchair.app/

Haven't tried it, because the Pixel Launcher is fine for me (but yes, I'm in camp "they should make the search bar removable.)