14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has released a major new update for Bing Search on iOS devices, delivering a redesigned interface and easier ways to get to weather, trending news, and images.
“Heading into the holidays, we suspect there will be a few iPhone and iPad-shaped boxes under all that gift wrapping,” reads Microsoft’s announcement. “One free gift you might want to look at, right out of the box, is the Bing app. And for anyone with an iPhone or iPad, the holidays have come early with updates to the Bing apps released today.”
What’s new for iPhone users
Thanks to the increased screen real estate on the two new iPhones released this year, Microsoft has decided to treat users to a completely redesigned home screen, where a larger search box has moved to the middle of the screen.
Microsoft’s image of the day is now accessible by just tapping anywhere underneath the search box, which causes all the other elements to vanish, decluttering the screen so that you can enjoy the photo. Swiping left displays yesterday’s image, and so on.
The layout change also affects frequently accessed features like weather, trending news, and images. Users can just swipe from the bottom of the home screen to bring their information into a full screen state.
“There are a few other visual updates that we worked hard on – but we want you to discover those on your own. Get the iPhone app now and let us know what you think,” Microsoft says. To download Bing Search for iPhone, all you need is an iOS 7 device.
On iPad
The iPad version of Bing Search also receives some goodies. Thanks to iOS 8, the software now gets the translate extension that Microsoft introduced in the iPhone app a few months ago. It enables customers to instantly translate web pages in the Bing app or in the default browser installed on the device to any desired language.
Users who decide to flip the switch and activate the Bing widget in Notification Center will also be able to enjoy daily trending stories and the image of the day. The Bing Search GUI is currently localized in English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese, according to the App Store description.
To download Bing for iPad, users will only need iOS 5, according to the list of requirements. However, something tells us that the full Bing experience can only be enjoyed on iOS 8 devices. Especially if widgets are involved (wink).
