Back in August, Google revealed plans to update its Search app for iOS with improved voice search, saying that the new app was expected to arrive in "within a couple of days." Things didn't exactly pan out like that, but today Google announced that Search update is finally live in the App Store. The update brings with it support for the iPhone 5's taller display as well as improved voice search that Google says includes "faster and significantly improved voice recognition with text streamed on the fly" and answers that are spoken back to the user. The Google Search app requires iOS 4.3 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
After testing out the new version of Google Search for a bit, the app worked pretty well, understanding my questions without an issue and bringing up weather forecasts, sports scores and Google search results quickly. Google suggests in its announcement of today's update to ask the app to show the trailer for the upcoming James Bond movie, and doing so brings up a YouTube page in the app's built-in browser, followed by the trailer starting up on it its own. The voice search in the new Google Search app looks like it could give Siri a run for its money, though the fact that Siri is built-in to the device and can be accessed by holding down the home button may give it a slight edge over Google's app for some users. Anyone interested in checking out the updated iOS Google Search app can find it in the App Store right here. A video demo is embedded below.
