If the little gleaming update notification badge on the App Store hasn’t already caught your eye, it’s time to update the ol’ Google Mobile app – especially if you’ve got an accent.
The biggest change is in how the app gets things done. Where as it used to boot into Safari as soon as you tapped into any search result, they’re now keeping it all within app – tap a result, and it’ll open in an in-app web view.
If you’ve got an accent, Google’s voice search results might not always be spot on. Looking to improve upon this, they’ve added manual accent selection. The app already knew to fine-tine itself to accents specific to a certain area by way of GPS – but if you’re an Australian in London, for example, you can now tell the app to prep itself for your specific vocal twang.
Finally, they’ve moved a few minor visual customization settings out of the once somewhat-hidden “Bells and Whistle” preferences screen. You can now set the Google Mobile app’s overall theme to just about any color you’d like, or set the app to display a “live waveform” as you speak your commands. The latter option only works well on “faster iPhones” – so don’t be surprised if things get a bit chunky on your 1st generation antique.