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How come apple is so much better than Google in search?

7 points by breiner ↗ HN
I switched from iOS to Android two years ago and Google still hasn't caught up with Apple's device search.

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's name I'll get a wikipedia result instead of her contact info even though I contact her 10 times a day.

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 "search phone" button.

Why hasn't this been fixed already?

23 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 63.9 ms ] thread
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.

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

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...

starshadowx2
Not any other contacts I talk to regularly. If I do go into the search device they come up, but I know my contacts and I'll see them in Phone or Message right away anyways.

And no, it does not take me 30 seconds to search for apps. I only have 3 pages of apps, so it takes at most 4 taps. Most of the apps I use regularly are on one of my two main pages though, so I barely even need that many.

Maybe it's saying something that you need 30 seconds to find apps on your phone.

breiner
Most people do... the average number of apps per user is close to 100
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.
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.

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...
jacalata
No idea. Mine looks like starshadowx's image, and I use it for contact search and as my default way to open apps.
breiner
So you actually use it to open apps? you open apps by searching?
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.