Apple has been using search results from Microsoft Bing for its Siri on iOS and Spotlight Search on macOS for a while now, but it looks like things are starting to change. The Cupertino company is now switching to Google as the web search provider for Siri, and Spotlight on Mac. According to Apple, this is so that the company can provide a consistent web search experience with the default in Safari.
“Switching to Google as the web search provider for Siri, Search within iOS and Spotlight on Mac will allow these services to have a consistent web search experience with the default in Safari. We have strong relationships with Google and Microsoft and remain committed to delivering the best user experience possible.” – Apple told TechCrunch.
Apple isn’t ditching Microsoft Bing completely though, it will show web links as well as video results from Google. Web image results searched using Siri will still rely on Bing.
“We value our relationship with Apple and look forward to continuing to partner with them in many ways, including on Bing Image Search in Siri, to provide the best experience possible for our customers.” – Microsoft
The update should be rolled out right now, just perform a search via Siri or Spotlight, and it will show you web links taken from Google search. According to TechCrunch, “searches and results are all encrypted and anonymised and cannot be attributed to any individual user”. Tapping on a link will bring you directly to the webpage. However, when you click on “Show Google Results” at the bottom of the page, it will bring you to Google Search.
(Source: TechCrunch)
