Search

Apple promises to open up universal search on Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 5, 2015

When the new Apple TV launches toward the end of this month, it will allow viewers to use their voice to search movies and television shows across iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Showtime and HBO. Fans of the device were initially concerned that the new box would offer preferential treatment to the aforesaid services. Thankfully, that won't be the case.

As CEO Tim Cook noted in an interview this weekend with BuzzFeed News's John Paczkowski, the new box will allow apps beyond launch partners to expose and make their content discoverable and searchable via iOS 9's universal search feature.

It's a crucial confirmation: content from other broadcasters and studios such as NBC, Disney and CNN must be exposed through the Apple TV's Siri-based search if the device is to streamline the user experience.

How to convert units and currencies with Spotlight on iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 15, 2025

Learn how to perform instant unit and currency conversions and get live exchange rates using Spotlight search on your iPhone and iPad.

Bing for iPhone picks up Interests and News, gains private searching, Apple Watch app and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Microsoft's Bing for iPhone app was updated last evening with several new features such as Bing Interests, Bing News, a private searching mode, the Popular Now section on your Apple Watch and other enhancements.

I typically use Google's native search app on my iPhone, but Bing saw some rather interesting improvements in recent months. In my personal opinion, Microsoft's search-based app is better designed than Google's with richer descriptions and prettier images.

More importunely, Bing's popular searches feature produces way more relevant results than Google, at least for me.

New Google for iOS update adds always-listening “Ok Google” to in-app browser and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 12, 2015

It's been a while since Google last refreshed its native search application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with meaningful new features, but today Google for iOS got bumped to version 7.0 in the App Store.

Most notably, the app now supports the always-on “Ok Google” feature within in-app browser, but not only that—it understands what you're searching for in the context of the webpage you're browsing.

Before today, “Ok Google” was only available on the app's search screen and you weren't able to use it if you navigated away from search results.

Instagram bringing place, people and hashtag search to the web

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 20, 2015

Following an update last month that added expanded search options to its mobile app, Facebook-owned Instagram has now started rolling out place search and other search-related enhancements for its web version, the company announced Monday.

The new search features are currently rolling out to a subset of Instagram's installed base before going live for everyone so they may not be available to you just yet.

Here are Google’s plans for frictionless shopping straight from mobile search

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 15, 2015

The next time you use Google Search on your iPhone, you may notice a brand new “Purchase on Google” button, a feature that has been rumored for several months and confirmed today at the company's presser in New York City.

According to Venture Beat, it will let consumers purchase items directly from ads in Google search results using the payment information linked to their Google account.

The new button will begin rolling out in the next few weeks.

How to find great quotations without visiting any Google Search results

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2015

The Internet is the perfect place to research some of the greatest quotes from the world's most insightful people, but often searching for a quote feels like finding a needle in the haystack. What if you could find great quotations without having to click through a bunch of links in search results like an animal? Well, now you can as Google has quietly rolled out handy Quotes cards that inject your search results with—you guessed right—quotes.

In this post, I'm going to teach you how to retrieve quotations on your Mac, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad without visiting any Google Search results.

Spotlight gets smarter in iOS 9

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 8, 2015

Spotlight search has been completely redesigned for iOS 9, and it brings with it a new interface, a new search API, deep linking to search results, and more. With an interface that harkens back to the pre-iOS 7 days, search is now a powerful new tool in iOS.

You’ll soon be able to open iOS app content straight from Google Search

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2015

Google will soon start indexing iOS apps, allowing you to open content in your favorite apps straight from Google Search, the company announced Wednesday.

Google has been indexing content from Android apps for a while and now it's about to help Apple fans discover relevant content from iPhone and iPad applications, right inside search.

“Starting today, we’re bringing App Indexing to iOS apps as well,” the company announced. “This means users on both Android and iOS will be able to open mobile app content straight from Google Search.”

Google and Twitter team up to provide Tweets in mobile search results

Cody Lee ∙ May 19, 2015

Google and Twitter announced on Tuesday that they are partnering up to bring Tweets to Google Search on mobile devices. The move means that now, anytime you perform a search using the Google app (iOS or Android) or mobile browser, you'll see real-time content from Twitter in your results.

The search results are triggered by “Twitter” keyword searches, and include both hashtags and accounts. So you can either search for feedback on the new #TaylorSwift album or #MadMenFinale, or you can track down NASA's Twitter account, and view their recent Tweets without leaving Google.

Applebot, a web crawler for Siri and Spotlight, unmasked in a support document

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

An official support document updated last evening has confirmed that Apple is using a web crawler service called Applebot to index the web for content used by its Siri personal digital assistant on iOS devices and built-in Spotlight search on both iOS and OS X.

An Apple-operated engine, Applebot is described as “the web crawler for Apple” which gathers useful content for products including Siri and Spotlight Suggestions. The document doesn't state how long AppleBot has been operational in production.

Bing for iPhone gains private mode, revamped Image search, app links in search results and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2015

Microsoft today refreshed Bing for iPhone, adding more than half a dozen useful new features and enhancements, beginning with the Private Search Mode which will not remember your search history and sites you have visited.

Other new features include better management of your search history settings, the ability to launch native iPhone applications right from the search results page, inline previews of clips in Video search and more.