Google Mobile App – Review

Our rating:

By: Google Mobile

Version #: 0.1.337

Date Released: 2008-07-03

Developer:

Price: 0.00

User Rating:

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If I were going to give this review a title it would be-

Google App- Overlooked and Undervalued

The name says it all. The Google app that was available when the App Stored first opened is one of the more powerful and useful apps available. Unfortunately it is often overlooked. In part, I suspect, because we expect such high quality applications from Google.

A quick look at what it can do, however, reveals just how powerful this app is.

The main page looks like any other Google search page.

Tap the small downward point arrow on the left side of the search bar, however, and you begin to see how this Google app differs. That small, easily overlooked arrow allows you to determine WHAT the app searches. Choices include- "iPhone and Web", "Local" (which uses the location feature), "Images", "News", "Shopping" and "Wikipedia".  In other words, this small arrow turns this mobile search feature into a search bar as powerful as the one on a desktop.  

Google clearly made good use of their year of constantly optimizing the speed with which their web apps worked on Gen1 iPhones since the Google application makes quick work of searches regardless of the search arena you choose.

Tapping the small "i" at the upper right corner of the app brings you to another configurable area. This new area allows you to–
–turn the contacts search feature on and off
–turn the "include prior searches and websites" on and off.

In other words, with "Websites" turned on and "Contacts" turn off you get a traditional Google search feature. With "Contacts" turned on and "Websites" turned off, however you get a far more powerful contacts search function than the one Apple (thankfully) added in 2.0. 

You can also
–toggle whether or not you want the app to make suggestions as you type
–toggle "Safe search" on or off

 The "Safe Search" feature becomes increasingly important as "certain" companies increasingly try to leverage the iPhone wide screen and fast data.

Finally, there is also a "Clear History" button in case you DID toggle off the safe mode off for a period of time.

The Google App works well, is quite stable, and adds to the "Full Browsing" iPhone/iPod Touch experience.

My only complaint with the app is that many searches bring you to the regular Google results page, rather than an optimized one. This means a lot of pinching and scrolling that is unnecessary since Google has EXCELLENT iPhone optimization.

Quick Take

Value: Super high
Would I Buy Again: A MUST on your iPhone
Learning Curve: Low
Who is it for: Anyone who has an iPhone or iPod Touch and does even a tiny bit of browsing on it
What I like: It is highly configurable and brings the full Google search ability to the iPhone/iPodTouch 
What I Don’t: The tiny flaw is that it often returns results in a full Google page whose print is tiny.

Final Statement: Anyone using their iPhone or iPod Touch for browsing needs this app on her device. It works well and if past history is any indication, Google will be updating it regularly.