In a new report out of TechCrunch, Apple has announced it will be stepping away from using Bing for Siri and Spotlight searchs in iOS and macOS and will instead opt for Google. Bing will still provide images in searches (some argue its database is a bit more reliable than Google’s), but videos will surface straight from YouTube. This change begins to take affect starting today for all iOS and macOS users.
According to an Apple spokesperson, the reasoning for this move is to create a level of consistency between Siri & Spotlight searches and web results in Safari. The company notes they’ll retain their relationship with Microsoft and “remain committed to delivering the best user experience possible,” so it looks like Bing image results will stick around for a bit longer.
Of course, Apple could’ve made this change last week when iOS 11 was released, but in order to achieve that consistency the company is looking for, it was likely better to wait until macOS High Sierra went live.
Apple probably wants better quality search results, too.
But why switch to Google from Bing anyway? In other words, why bother? It’s highly likely Apple is trying to improve the results that show up on users’ screens when Siri or Spotlight needs a little assistance from the World Wide Web. Some may disagree that Google is much better at doing so than Bing, but there’s a reason so many people use the latter over the former. This factor adds onto the consistency Apple is attempting to achieve, but I have a feeling the Google vs Bing decision was made more for quality than beign consisten about things.
Still, at least users won’t have to deal with Bing search results anymore when Siri can’t process your request. You should see this change immediately on your iOS or Mac device.
You must log in to post a comment.