Google Search App Updated: News, Restaurants, Popular Tools And Other Shortcuts Added

Google updated its search app Tuesday by introducing tappable shortcuts on its iOS and Android search apps and Google.com on mobile web.

“Getting up-to-the-minute info is as easy as a single tap. With shortcuts right on the home screen, you now have access to in-depth experiences across sports, eat & drink, entertainment and weather,” Tamar Yehoshua, vice president of product management, Google, said on the company's official blog post.

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Additional shortcuts such as translate, nearby attractions, flights, hotels and internet speed tests will be present below the search bar. The new update will even add a "fun" section that will have shortcuts to games such as “tic-tac-toe,” “roll a die,” “animal sounds” and “I’m feeling curious.”

Apart from providing answers to search queries, the search app will also show areas of interest such as sports and news. You will be able to see dining options, movie timings and other such recommendations. Before the update, the Google search showed news headlines, weather and sports in one feed, while now there will be a dedicated shortcut for every topic.

Search results won’t be vague even if you aren’t typing in your search query. For example, tapping on sports will have up-to-date data such as game timings, up-to-date scores, etc. You will also be able to customize categories according to your preferences.

Read: Google Changes Search To Detect Fake News

The new shortcuts will make it easy to see your regularly searched areas of interest without typing in the search box what you want to look up. Android users will have it even easier than iOS users since shortcuts to apps will be present for them below the search bar.

The new shortcuts will be first rolled out in the U.S. The timeframe for the global rollout is not yet known.