
How come apple is so much better than Google in search? - breiner
I switched from iOS to Android two years ago and Google still hasn&#x27;t caught up with Apple&#x27;s device search.<p>On my iPhone I used the spotlight search so much I tried to hack it to be my home page. On Android all I have is the Google search bar which searches--guess what? Google. If I type my girlfriend&#x27;s name I&#x27;ll get a wikipedia result instead of her contact info even though I contact her 10 times a day.<p>To be honest, you can see the information on the device, but only after scrolling down to the bottom of the results, or in some cases clicking the little &quot;search phone&quot; button.<p>Why hasn&#x27;t this been fixed already?
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dragonwriter
> On Android all I have is the Google search bar which searches--guess what?
> Google. If I type my girlfriend's name I'll get a wikipedia result instead
> of her contact info even though I contact her 10 times a day.

The Google search bar does instant search on-device (including contacts, apps,
web history, etc.) from the search box before you hit the search button
(including contacts, as I just tested on my phone), and searches Google iff
you hit the action button (the search icon that replaces "enter" on the
keyboard when typing in the search box.) So I don't see the problem you are
reporting of having to take extra-steps to find the on-device results;
instead, it takes _fewer_.

This is a Galaxy Note 3 with Lollipop and the Google Now launcher; its
possible that different device/OS version/launcher may provide a different UX
here.

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breiner
I'm using the latest Google Now launcher with Lollipop 5.1. It seems to be
random what it chooses to prioritize. But it looks like web searches have
higher priority, see screenshot:
[https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1hsdo8euclnf23/Screenshot%202015-...](https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1hsdo8euclnf23/Screenshot%202015-07-03%2016.00.14.png)

p.s. Danielle is my girlfriend and we do talk a lot :-/

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anonyfox
Apple is focussing on a great user experience to sell devices with a premium
tag, google is focussing on maximizing the number of targeted ads you see
whatever you do.

Your choice.

~~~
breiner
I agree...it seems like Google is more concerned with targeted ads instead of
user experience.

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jacalata
That's how it's worked on Android phones for over two years - It's possible
you are using an OS version more than four years old or something.

~~~
breiner
See my reply to dragonwriter...

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jacalata
No idea. Mine looks like starshadowx's image, and I use it for contact search
and as my default way to open apps.

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breiner
So you actually use it to open apps? you open apps by searching?

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jacalata
Yes, all the time. I have a few most-used apps on my home screen and the rest
(including some like Mint, which I use frequently but don't want obvious to
someone picking up the phone) I open by searching.

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breiner
I see, I used to do that too. But it just wasn't as fast as iOS. That's why I
built this:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nextstages...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nextstagesearch)

~~~
jacalata
This makes me feel like your question was only intended as a setup for
advertising your app.

~~~
breiner
No, the goal was to see if anyone knows about a better solution.

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starshadowx2
Strange, when I use the search bar I get contacts or app results first. I
really don't have the same experience at all like you.

~~~
breiner
See my reply to @dragonwriter...BTW, do you ever use this search bar for
device search?

~~~
starshadowx2
Yeah, mine looks nothing like that. Using 5.1.1 on a Nexus 6.

[http://i.imgur.com/2BahpeT.png](http://i.imgur.com/2BahpeT.png)

I always get Search, Apps and Contacts right away like @dragonwriter.

Honestly no, I don't usually, but that's because I barely have to. I know
where all my stuff is and who my contacts are. I use it primarily for Google
Search.

~~~
breiner
It does! Don't you have any other contacts in "b" ?

The fact you're not using it is the ultimate proof, on iPhone it was super
useful. And no way you "know where everything is" I bet you swipe for 30
seconds every time you want to open an app that's not on your home screen...

~~~
mcintyre1994
I just double tap home and can search my apps like Alfred on OSX, I think
that's a Nova launcher thing. There's literally no point arguing Android
doesn't do something you want because you're almost certainly wrong. That
said, I don't tend to use the device search a lot except for files etc - I go
app first when contacting people usually.

I'm not sure why it's not working for you but other than being a bit slow to
start up (they really should load the keyboard before recent searches) I don't
think I've ever had an issue finding what I was looking for.

~~~
breiner
That's exactly my point, of course it's working for me, I've never had an
issue finding what I was looking for either, it's just super slow. The
keyboard does not open (like you mentioned), recent web searches and websites
appear above my own content. Just makes everything so slow, so I eventually
swipe away at my app drawer or my contacts' app to find stuff, which is so
2001...

~~~
starshadowx2
I'm guessing you probably have some settings set wrong somewhere if you say
you're using 5.1 because your screenshots look completely different from what
me, @dragonwriter, and @jacalata have and describe.

~~~
breiner
I'm afraid it's not a setting, I checked, I just have more web search results
that are similar to my search term. If you'd use the search feature more you'd
see. Anyways, I built an app that fixes that:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nextstages...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nextstagesearch)

