A long-running deal with Apple that makes Google the default search engine in the mobile and desktop Safari browser is becoming more and more expensive for the search giant.
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Cortana for iOS gains refined look, enhanced reminders, faster navigation & other perks
Available since December 2015 as a native Cortana app for iPhone and iPad, Microsoft's digital assistant today received an update in App Store. Aside from regular bug fixes and performance improvements, this edition of Cortana brings visual changes and some cool new capabilities.
Google app gains drag and drop on iPad, directions with Apple Maps or Waze & more
Google's dedicated search app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was updated this morning with several improvements, including support for iOS 11's drag and drop on iPad, the ability to open places and get directions with Apple Maps or Waze, and more.
Amazon Alexa can now recognize different voices
Amazon yesterday released an update which lets its digital assistant Alexa tell different voices apart, a feature that will appeal to crowded households with multiple Echo speakers.
This tweak hides the search bar from the Reminders app
Frequent users of Apple’s Reminders app know how useful it can be for organizing a busy thought process, but some people don’t like that they can’t customize it.
Those with jailbroken devices have a little more customization leeway, and new free jailbreak tweak called HideReminderSearchView by iOS developer CydiaGeek lets jailbreakers flex those muscles.
App Store search ads expand to Canada, Mexico & Switzerland
First introduced in June 2016 before launching in October 2016, search ads on App Store are now expanding to Canada, Mexico and Switzerland.
Apple swaps Bing for Google in Siri, iOS Search & macOS Spotlight
Apple officially announced today that it's replacing Microsoft's Bing with the Google search engine for Siri web searches and within Spotlight for iOS (now called Search) and Spotlight on Mac. Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac already uses Google search as the default provider.
Google Assistant for iOS expands to Germany, France and UK
Following its US-only debut on iOS in May 2017 at the Google I/O conference, the search giant today expanded the availability of the Assistant app for iPhone and iPad to the users in Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Google may have paid Apple $3 billion to remain default iPhone search engine
Google is paying Apple an estimated $3 billion per annum, or more, in order to remain the default search engine on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, according to a new analysis from Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi cited by Business Insider.
Spark for Mac gains advanced search features & other notable improvements
Ukrainian developer Readdle today refreshed its award-winning Spark email app for Mac with powerful new search capabilities along with other notable improvements, such as snoozed emails syncing across devices, reduced CPU consumption and improved memory usage.
Image search and discovery coming to eBay’s iOS app this fall
eBay on Wednesday announced that its mainland mobile app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch will be gaining advanced image-based search and discovery features via an update this fall.