Google Android app update adds offline search support, here’s how it works

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Even as telecom operators are moving to high-speed 4G services, the internet penetration is the most in cities, whereas billions of people in villages are still unconnected. In fact, most rural areas have spotty 2G and internet connectivity that barely works. To counter such issues, Google has been rolling out features that don’t consume too much of bandwidth. Now, Google has also updated its Android app with offline search capabilities.

No, the update won’t let you search offline, but it will keep those topics in pending searches and deliver the results when you are connected again. Performing search operations when you have poor Wi-Fi or mobile internet connectivity can be frustrating, and the update aims to curb those issues.

Here’s how Google offline search works

When you have poor or no internet connectivity, and you’re trying to search something on Google search app, it will queue your search queries and wait till you have a stable internet connection. The app will notify you about network connection not available, with an alert saying that the app will remember your search and notify when results are ready. You can either turn this off or tap on OK.

When the network is back, the app will perform the search in the background and offer a heads up notification saying that your search result is ready. Tapping on the notification will take you the Google search result page. The feature is quite interesting and helpful too. There are times when we want to search something and we are unable to, mostly due to a spotty connection. And when the network is back, there are chances where we often forget to search again, unless it is something really important. This is exactly when the offline search function could be helpful, ensuring you don’t miss out on this.

In the search app, there is also a ‘Manage Searches’ option under hamburger menu, where you can see all the pending searches that are queued. If you don’t want a particular search to take place when the internet is back, you can clear them too. Google also mentioned on its blog that the offline search feature minimally impacts on data consumption, without draining your battery.

To optimize the network connection and ensure less data is consumed, Google recently added data saver mode for videos in Chrome app, along with offline download support. The company also announced YouTube Go app, completely built from scratch, giving users more control over the amount of data consumed while watching or saving a particular video for offline viewing.

Google also introduced ‘wait for Wi-Fi’ feature for Play Store to cache popular pages when on Wi-Fi connection. The feature also allows users to download apps only when connected to Wi-Fi network. What’s more, Google also introduced ‘Lite Mode’ in News and Weather app to cut down on mobile data usage by up to 33 percent.

Google Android app update adds offline search support, here’s how it works
 
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