Android tips & tricks: Search (Android phones and Tablets)

Search

You will perhaps not be surprised that Google’s Search app does a little more than just search the web on Android phones and Tablet PCs and other android Devices.

Search Apps, Texts, and More

Besides Google, you can also search through your SMS history and music tracks, as well as any app that supports it (your Kindle books, your Evernote notes, your Twitter tweets, and so on).

From within the app, press
 Menu > Search Settings > Searchable items, and choose the apps and areas you want to search. The search results will show Google listings at the top, and other results at the bottom.

(In the previous version of Search, you can do the same thing by tapping the logo in the top-left and selecting the little dial button.)

Auto-Complete

When typing a query, a list of auto-completions will appear. Tap the words to go directly to a search for the selected query; tap the arrow on the right to just add the words to your query, so that you can type more.

Remove Items From Your Search History

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For results in your search history (the ones with a little clock on the left), long-press any to get an option to remove it from your history.

Assign an App to the Search Button

Certain apps let you assign a long-press of the search button as a shortcut to run them. Voice Search is the default, but you can also assign Screenshot Now to take a screenshot, or SoundHound to identify the song, for example.

Just remove the currently selected app as the default (explained in an earlier tip), then long-press Search to select a new one.