android - How to integrate searchable Activity with Ok Google voice search?

Question

I am trying to implement the Ok Google Voice Search integration. However, I am unable to deeplink into my app when I say "Search for Android on app_name." Instead, it simply searches the term on the web.

Here's what I did:

1. Create /res/xml/searchable.xml

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <searchable xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       android:label="@string/app_name"
       android:hint="@string/search_hint">
   </searchable>
   

2. Create a new Activity

   public class ExposedSearchActivity extends Activity {
       @Override
       protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
           super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
   
           String search = getIntent().getStringExtra(SearchManager.QUERY);
           Log.wtf("", "q=" + search);
       }
   }
   

3. Attach intent filters to the searchable activity

   <activity
       android:name=".search.ExposedSearchActivity"
       android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|screenSize"
       android:screenOrientation="fullSensor">
       <!--Deeplink from google now-->
       <intent-filter>
           <action android:name="com.google.android.gms.actions.SEARCH_ACTION"/>
           <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
       </intent-filter>
       <!--Making it searchable-->
       <intent-filter>
           <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEARCH"/>
       </intent-filter>
       <meta-data
           android:name="android.app.searchable"
           android:resource="@xml/searchable"/>
   </activity>
   

4. My test device is a Nexus 5 running Lollipop LPX13D with Google Search 4.0.26.1499465.arm

What other steps might I have forgotten? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

After lots of searching, I have found the answer in a comment on Google+ by the author of the blog post, Jarek Wilkiewicz.

Yes, the app must be published to the Play Store in order for the feature to work. One way to help debug your end is to trigger the intent via adb, for example: adb shell am start -a com.google.android.gms.actions.SEARCH_ACTION -e query foo

So I tested this feature on an app that is already in the Play Store, and it works flawlessly.