[youtube PNILRfRAjvY]
No one panic — the official Google iOS app has some big changes. For one, the app is now called Google Search instead of Google Mobile, with a fresh new user interface that’s a lot more suitable for Apple’s mobile OS, including the ability to swipe to fine-tune your search.
On Tuesday, the Google Mobile Blog announced the latest version of their official, universal Google app, which is no longer called Google Mobile. Along with the new Google Search name comes a completely redesigned look and feel more befitting of the search giant’s core business.
“First, you’ll see that there are now more ways to interact with the app,” explains Alastair Tse and Robert Hamilton on Google’s blog (respectively the software engineer and product manager). “When browsing through search results or looking at a webpage, you can swipe down to see the search bar or change your settings. For those who use other Google apps, there’s an Apps button at the bottom of the screen for rapid access to the mobile versions of our products.”
Even cooler, Google Search now includes the ability to swipe right to restrict a search to a specific category — Places, Images, News, Shopping, Videos, Updates, Blogs or Discussions. The result is a much more refined search experience, getting to what you want even faster than before.
Of course, from the main window you also have the ability to search using Google Goggles, Voice Search, Search with My Location and even Gmail unread counts (which can be toggled off in the app settings). Since the app is universal, you’ll get the same great experience on the iPhone/iPod touch as well as the bigger display of the iPad, and Google Goggles now works with the iPad 2’s rear camera as well.
Check out the new Google Search in the video below; as always it’s a free download from the App Store and will replace your older Google Mobile install.
© 2011, @BWyche. All rights reserved.
