Google app for iOS adds ‘instant answers’ and trending searches near you

Abner Li | Sep 1 2017 - 9:01 am PT

The latest version of the Google app rolled out to iOS yesterday with a number of new features centered around making Search faster. “Instant answers” are already found on the web and provide the results of basic queries without having to complete a search, while the Google app will now list trending searches around you.

Tapping the Search bar in version 34.0 (via TechCrunch) will populate a dropdown of “What’s Trending.” Google notes that it will show popular searches around you, but the results appear to be quite nationally/gloally themed. This feature launched on Android last year and features a toggle to disable in settings.

Meanwhile, “instant answers” is already available in Chrome’s OmniBar across all platforms, mobile web Search, and the Android Google app. Searching for basic queries like stock prices and other basic facts will surface the answer right below the search box among the dropdown of other suggestions.

The last update to the Google app makes it easy to provide feedback on suggestions that might be inaccurate or inappropriate. This feature rolled out to Google Search on the web in light of the “fake news” controversy in April.

Version 34.0 is now available for iOS via the App Store.