Microsoft's search engine, Bing has been Apple's default choice for both Siri (on iOS devices) and Spotlight (on macOS) search results for quite some time now, but the tech giant has decided to switch things up.
Microsoft’s search engine, Bing has been Apple’s default choice for both Siri (on iOS devices) and Spotlight (on macOS) search results for quite some time now, but the tech giant has decided to switch things up.
Starting today, both Spotlight and Siri will be using Google instead of Bing for traditional text search results (with video searches returning YouTube results as before). Though this move may come as a surprise to some, Apple’s primary reason for their decision involves their desire to provide their users with a more consistent search experience. In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple explained that “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.”
Though there is still some debate regarding which search engine is superior among fans of Bing and Google, this move should also serve to improve the overall accuracy and relevance of Siri and Spotlight search results.
It doesn’t seem that there’s any animosity between the two companies as a result of this move, however both Siri and Spotlight will continue to use Bing for all image search results, and a Microsoft official said the following when asked to comment on the decision:
The move is timed to coincide with the release of Apple’s latest macOS update, High Sierra. These search engine changes are expected to make their way to all iOS and macOS devices globally by this afternoon.
