Posts tagged with "google"

Safari 6.0 and Google Search URLs→

Safari 6.0 and Google Search URLs

Brent Simmons writes about the lack of URLs for Google searches in Safari 6.0:

I asked on Twitter. One way is to drag the magnifying glass into whatever text I’m editing. Another way would be a bookmarklet that gets the current page location. A third way would be an AppleScript script.

I ended up writing a Python script.

From my Mountain Lion review:

That said, there is one aspect to the new smart search field I don’t care for: it no longer displays Google Search URLs after you’ve used it to search for something. So if you want to share a direct link to a Google Search, you’ll need to copy it from the share sheet in either Messages or Mail.

In fiddling with Keyboard Maestro, I built a super-quick macro that grabs the URL of the frontmost Safari window through AppleScript. You can download the macro here, or check out the AppleScript itself if you want to create a system Service with Automator.

As pointed out by user @jaydisc on Twitter, some Apple apps on Mountain Lion can receive the copied search terms as clickable URLs in rich text format. In my tests, only Mail was able to receive search terms in RTF and, apparently, this is a known bug.

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Google Acquires Sparrow

Sparrow, the email client for OS X, just announced they have been acquired by Google. The Sparrow team will join the Gmail team to “accomplish a bigger vision”. Since its release, Sparrow has quickly become one of the most popular mail clients on OS X and, more recently, on the iPhone as well.

From the Sparrow website:

We’re excited to announce that Sparrow has been acquired by Google!

We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience.

Now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.

According to the developers, while the product has been acquired by Google, it will continue to be available, and the team will still provide support for its users, at least for the time being.

After the release of the iPhone client, the Sparrow team publicly asked Apple to figure out a solution to let them implement push notifications, which Sparrow wanted to use through a different method than the one enforced by Apple. The Sparrow team stated push was coming with or without Apple, but then suggested push would be coming with a yearly subscription after Apple’s decision not to allow their implementation of push notifications.

Recently, Sparrow also announced they were working on an iPad application. However, in an email the team just sent to existing customers, they wrote:

as we’ll be busy with new projects at Google, we do not plan to release new features for the Sparrow apps.

On the other hand, Google’s own Gmail app has always been heavily criticized (in spite of its improvements) for its performances and reliance on web views instead of “native” code in several interactions with navigation, message search, and more. In theory, the acquisition of Sparrow should hint at a major update to the official Gmail offerings for iOS coming in the future, although, obviously, the details are not clear at this point.

Interestingly enough, while Sparrow does have clients for both iPhone and OS X, Google has never offered an official Gmail application for the Mac. Similarly, one of the most prominent features of Sparrow is its ability to pull contacts’ profile pictures from Facebook, a kind of integration we assume would be going away in an hypothetical Google-owned version of Sparrow, replaced by Google+ support for avatars. Again, the same would apply for Dropbox and CloudApp, both of which are file sharing services supported by Sparrow; theoretically, Google would want to replace those features with Google Drive, their service for sharing and collaborating on documents online.

For a background on Sparrow, check out our latest coverage of the Mac client, our review of Sparrow for iPhone, and initial impressions with the Google Gmail app.

Update: A Google spokesperson has provided MacStories with a statement on Sparrow’s acquisition.

The Sparrow team has always put their users first by focusing on building a seamlessly simple and intuitive interface for their email client. We look forward to bringing them aboard the Gmail team, where they’ll be working on new projects.

Google Drive for iOS Now Available

Following a series of announcements at its I/O 2012 event, Google formally introduced the official Drive app for iOS today. Available for free as a universal download for iPhone and iPad, the Google Drive app gives you access to all your documents and folders stored in your Google account, as well as the ones shared with you. Documents can be marked as starred to be easier to find, and made available offline through the details panel of an item view.

Complying with Apple’s terms for in-app purchases, the Google Drive app allows you to purchase additional storage using your iTunes account.

The Google Drive app for iOS doesn’t come with full editing capabilities – instead, Google is pushing the client as a way to “quickly and easily” find and view your files, pictures, and videos stored on Google’s servers. Files can be shared with collaborators from the app and, obviously, synced to desktop devices, but as far as editing capabilities go, it appears Google is only allowing users to forward documents to other installed iOS apps using the standard “Open In…” menu.

The app’s design is largely similar across the iPhone and iPad, relying on the tablet’s larger screen to display more panels at once and bigger media.

Google Drive for iOS is now available on the App Store.

Google+ Coming to iPad Soon→

Google+ Coming to iPad Soon

Drew Olanoff writing for The Next Web:

The app is absolutely gorgeous, and it definitely takes some cues from Flipboard’s approach to content display and digesting. I found that after using the app for a few minutes, navigating your way through all of Google+’s features was simple, and more importantly, natural. It’s a hybrid of Flipboard and Apple’s coverflow.

I’m not a Google+ user, but the new social features found in the Android and iPad versions look to imaginative, and in some cases, quite clever. Google+ Hangouts is built in, so you can chat with groups of family and friends — similar to FaceTime. Commenting looks easy, pictures are laid out like magazine images, and Google has seems to have managed to retain a modern and friendly interface that doesn’t feel abstract or robotic. You’ll want to check out The Next Web for more images and hands-on with the tablet app.

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Google Launches Complete Redesign of Search iPhone App

Today, Google launched a major redesign of its official Search app for iPhone, which reaches version 2.0 and is now available on the App Store.

Inspired by the iPad update that was released last year, the new Google Search app for iPhone brings a completely redesigned start screen with options to sign in, search, and access Google apps. A shortcut for settings is available at the top alongside an icon to switch between search results and the search field at any time.

Searches can be performed by typing, or through two new shortcuts for voice and Goggles. These functionalities were already in place, but Google says they are now faster and more accessible thanks to the new interface. Similarly, the standard search results have gone through a major overhaul as well: as you scroll, controls are hidden and results are displayed in full-screen; like on the iPad, results open in a separate panel that you can dismiss at any time with a a single swipe. You can share results via email, open a webpage in Safari, and even search for specific text inside a page. Along the bottom, new tabs for Images, Places, News, and more allow you to easily switch between different types of Google results.

Furthermore, Google has redesigned image results to be displayed in full-screen, and a new Apps tab in the main screen allows you to load Google apps “on the web” or “from your iPhone”. As a side note, the app has also received a slightly redesigned icon, and both the iPhone and iPad version of Search can now save images to the Camera Roll.

Google Search 2.0 is now available on the App Store.

Google Officially Launches Google Drive

Rumored for years, Google has today officially taken the wraps off Google Drive, the company’s new solution to store, share, and collaborate on documents and files in the cloud. Available at drive.google.com, Google Drive allows users to open more than 30 file types (including video, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop) directly in the browser even without desktop apps installed; Drive is connected to Google Docs for document editing and collaborative features, albeit Docs storage doesn’t count against Drive’s storage limits.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

With a promised 99.9% uptime guarantee from Google, Drive starts for free at 5 GB of storage:

You can get started with 5GB of storage for free—that’s enough to store the high-res photos of your trip to the Mt. Everest, scanned copies of your grandparents’ love letters or a career’s worth of business proposals, and still have space for the novel you’re working on. You can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

Among the Drive features touted by Google, the company announced the service will support OCR (optical character recognition) for scanned documents, image recognition for uploaded pictures (for instance, you’ll be able to search for “Eiffel Tower” and have Drive find a picture of it in your files), and search. As with most Google products, great focus has been put on the search functionality, which will allow users to look for file names, content, activity, and owner information in the Drive accounts. Furthermore, Google says they have worked with a number of third-party developers to enable Drive integration with various online service starting today; similarly, Google Drive will work with other Google apps and services such as Google+ and Gmail to easily share files or attach documents to email messages.

The official Google Drive app for Android has gone live on Google Play, and the company says they are also “working hard” on a Drive app for iOS devices. ReadWriteWeb was provided with screenshots of the Drive iOS app directly from Google.

Check our more links, details, videos, and our first impressions with Google Drive after the break. Read more

Five Ways to Improve Gmail for iOS→

Five Ways to Improve Gmail for iOS

Great analysis by Ken Yarmosh:

A native Gmail app on iOS had been anxiously awaited for years but when Gmail for iOS launched back in November 2011, it do so to much berating. The main complaint against the app is that it is basically an iOS wrapper around the standard mobile web app. Personally, I found the criticisms overall harsh but it does need to be improved. In no particular order, here are five ways to do that.

I agree on all the points, and I’ll add that Google might consider picking the team that created the Search app for iPad to improve Gmail for iOS. Google Search for iPad is a great app: fast, stable, responsive, innovative – that’s Google at its best, making a native app that is not cumbersome or underpowered. Gmail, on the other hand, feels like an attempt to “get the job done”: take a web view, throw some native wrapper on top of it, call it a Gmail app. Done. Gmail for iOS disappoints, but I’m still hoping Google is preparing something good for it. If that’s the case, please, Google, follow Ken’s suggestions.

On the other hand though, I can’t stop thinking about Sparrow for iPhone. That’s one of my most anticipated apps of 2012.

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Google Translate for iOS Updated with iPad Support

Previously available exclusively for iPhone and iPod touch owners, earlier today Google updated its official Google Translate iOS app to include a native interface for the iPad. The updated Google Translate, available here, heavily resembles its iPhone counterpart with larger interface elements ported to the iPad’s screen – there are three tabs at the bottom to switch between translations, favorite items and Settings, a microphone icon to speak directly into the device’s mic, and you can choose between multiple languages from a popover menu.

Unlike the surprisingly refreshing (for Google’s iOS standards) Google Search app, it appears Google Translate didn’t receive any particular iPad treatment in the conversion process.

Among the lesser known features of the app, you can specify input for English, Chinese and Spanish languages, display translations in full-screen mode, and tap on results for text-to-speech.

Google Translate 1.3 (changelog simply reads “Added support for iPad”) is available for free on the App Store.

Google Search for iPad Gets New Features and Redesigned UI

A few minutes ago Google released a new version of its official Google Search app for iOS that, alongside bug fixes and full-screen mode for search results and images on the iPhone, brings a completely overhauled interface, as well as new functionalities, on the iPad. Google Search, available as a universal app, has in fact introduced a redesigned UI that falls in line with Google’s recent updates to its online services like Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar and Google+. Google Search on the iPad now sports a series of gray icons in the main page to quickly jump to History, other Google apps, voice search and Goggles, a feature that Google introduced on iOS months ago to search for products just by taking a picture of them. The History page got a visual overhaul, displaying search results as stacks of pages you can swipe through to get your previous search.

Often you may be looking to find something you have seen before again or are continuing research on a topic. But on a tablet, typing can be a challenge. That is why we have created a visual way to explore your search history. Swipe right to view snapshots of pages you’ve visited, stacked and organized by search term. You can also manage your search history from this new view.

Search results are now loaded with Google Instant and Instant Previews, meaning the engine will be able to predict your queries and, at the same time, offer a visual aid to display pages as thumbnails, rather than just text results. The typical search interface is still there, visualized with Google’s recently launched tablet view. The native app has allowed the developers to embed a toolbar at the top, which contains buttons to open voice search, apps, settings, and sign in with your Google account.

Another big change on the iPad is how results are displayed side-by-side with webpages. As you tap on a link from the search results, Google Search will “slide in” a webpage with a quick animation that enables you to go back at any time with a single swipe gesture. You can adjust the size of the panel and visualize a webpage alongside other search results. Furthermore, the webpage view features another toolbar with buttons to +1 on Google+ and search for a specific word inside the page. With the iPad in landscape mode Google has effectively built a sort of split-browser with search results automatically loading in the resizable panel on the right.

Once you pick a web page to visit, you’ll see the page load on a new, slide-in pane that will layer over the search results. You can slide the pane to the right to get back to your search results, and even keep scrolling through the results as your web page is loading. This allows you to go back and forth from results to web pages quickly to get the information you are looking for.

Especially on the iPad and in landscape mode, the latest Google Search update seems like a step in the right direction to enable users to search faster, switch between results quicker, and have access to search history in a more user-friendly interface. You can get Google Search for free from the App Store.

More screenshots and promo video below.

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