Apple Confirms 'Applebot' as In-House Web Crawler for Services Like Siri and Spotlight

[akbarali.ch]

Interesting. But just as Apple Maps is no match for Google Maps, the same will probably be true of an Apple search engine vs Google search.

You comparing an infant to a grown up. Google map is very good, i use it regularly.
But there's no Dashboard version from any reputed company, so in my car i have another company you might not have heard of it, called MapMyIndia. The quality of the turn-by-turn and various map's data is really good and dependable. If a small company (comparing to giant Google) can achieve that, then for Apple its nothing. Its just matter of time.
And its always good to have a competition.

 

[AlecZ]

There could be a search engine that uses your Spotlight index to improve search results :O
"We knew you'd want to see this because you wrote about it in your last English essay."

 

[mejsric]

I bicycle and the bicycle routes in Google Maps are pretty useful, but I am not taking away from what you say. If you prefer Apple Maps that is awesome. I prefer Google and my track record with Google is a lot better in my personal use.

In the end.. It steals users... Bunch of users.. Say millions.


Now.. Imagine Apple to eats some on Googles core business.

 

[firewood]

That's the true answer.

Apple can sit back and do all their product integration - Apple Watch only works with iPhone, AirPlay only works with their devices, Apple Maps only works with Apple devices, AppleTV is and will be integrated in their ecosystem.... BECAUSE of Google.

If Google wasn't there with the overwhelming percentage of marketshare, Apple couldn't do all this. But because of Google, they can.

It's also interesting to note that if you decide to only make higher-priced items, thereby not being able to achieve the most marketshare, you won't be guilty of anything anti-trust. Apple is very smart in all this for NOT going to the lower end of the market. Apple products wouldn't be as good. The integration part is what makes Apple products better than the competition.

Yup. Apple's strategy should be to help grow the entire smartphone market, all brands and OSes, but instead of also going for market share, encourage Google and MSFT to keep the bottom 51% of mobile phone customers (which are mostly the unprofitable ones). That way Apple can do stuff to make their customer experience more seamless, but that would be highly anti-competitive if Apple were actually the OS market share leader. But they are not.

But with an overall growing mobile market, Apple can still increase their sales and revenue (and profits!)

Because they are not trying to be the market share leader.

 

[Keirasplace]

I've just looked into that - it's a difficult issue. Did Google get in trouble for advertising Chrome on it's homepage?

I just can't agree with a law that stops Google (or anyone) from adding any feature to their OS, simply because the OS is dominant. When does a piece of software stop being an OS feature and become it's own separate product?

The app draw is a feature of Android, but Google aren't in trouble because their app draw is putting other app draws out of business?

Should Google also be in trouble because so many people have Android phones they don't wear watches - so they're using their marketshare to take over the timekeeping industry?

They should get in trouble because there is no way out. OEM basically can't install their own stores that uses the proprietary Google Play Api, unless everything else Google is there. The only option is to forgo the google API and fork your own iteration, like the Chinese and Amazon. The problem is that your splitting yourself off from all applications developed on Android previously that are compatible with the play store if you do that.

So, the Android that most people use is not open source in any shape or form; it is an immense monopoly were Google can piggyback any service they want on the back of the OEM. They make the money from searches and all apps on those phones, and they make money from the play store.

From Wiki

"Only the base Android operating system is open-source software, whereas most Android devices ship with a substantial amount of proprietary software, such as Google Mobile Services, which includes applications such as Google Play Store, Google Search, and Google Play Services—a software layer that provides APIs for the integration with Google-provided services, among others. These applications must be licensed from Google by device makers, and can only be shipped on devices which meet its compatibility guidelines and other requirements."

Microsoft got dinged because they controlled the API on Windows (and used undocumented features on their OS), but all they tried to impose was a bunch of really lame apps and Internet Explorer, none of them being money makers. So, Google is in fact way worse than Microsoft at its peak.

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The lesson learned is that it takes a few years of making bad maps before creating good maps. So if consumers want to create competition for a better search experience than Google currently provides, expect to be hit with a few years of bad default search by Apple. They plan for the long run.

Lesson learned.

Well, if they slowly integrate searches in Siri (as they improve), the result for the users of Apple improving would be continuous and seamless. With the watch increasing the use of Siri and voice searches in general; maybe there won't be as much need for text based searches in the future.

 

[hydr]

I hope IOS/OSX drops google as default search engine, and replaces it with Apple Search.

I feel Google search has taken a dive the last few years. It´s time for another way to find information. Apple has the resources to make a serious impact. Make something better.

If that means they need to buy Yahoo, DuckDuck and Yelp, so be it. Just bake them into the service. Bing was created to copy Google. They failed. Apple won´t copy Google, they will make something better.

Very very few companies can have a meaningful impact on reducing Googles foothold on the search market. Apple is almost the only one that can shake things up. Bring it on.

 

[rorschach]

At least if they do, it won't be as big of a deal as Maps was since there's already a Google Search app, and searching in Safari just loads the website anyway. It'll be very easy to keep using Google if need be if Apple's search engine sucks. (Although I have a feeling they'll be a lot more cautious in relasing something after the whole Maps saga.)

 

[RenoG]

Tough to compete with Google, especially in its bread and butter. But just like Apple Maps has taken huge market share from Google Maps (and I believe growing as iPhone takes market share from PCs and Android Smart Phones), I suspect this search will take market share from Google.

Yeah Google will surely be a hard one to beat out. I do have some issues with them but their search results are untouchable as far as I'm concerned right now. Much success to apple but......

 

[Keirasplace]

Yeah Google will surely be a hard one to beat out. I do have some issues with them but their search results are untouchable as far as I'm concerned right now. Much success to apple but......

Huh! Ontouchable? Are we talking about the same heavily biased results.

BTW, Apple doesn't need to beat Google directly as on the mobile, Apple's searches can be integrated across all their products (embedded), making the switch seemless. Siri on the watch in particular has had very good reviews. Google is totally shut out there cause it doesn't integrate directly with the Apple watch.

 

[Dekema2]

Is it crazy that I've been using DuckDuckGo as my default search engine for almost half a year now?

 

[mazz0]

@people complaining that Apple do too much stuff now, that they should focus one fewer products - times have changed. We like our products to work together now more than ever. A big part of that is ecosystems - one company controlling the whole experience.

However, I have little expectation of Apple making a good search engine. Their history of services has been marginally better of late, but still not great. iMessage still won't merge a conversation between one person using two addresses, for example, Maps still doesn't have Street View which is infinitely more useful than the somewhat flashier but totally gimmicky Fly Over, and Geofenced Reminders are useless for time critical things (like getting off your train/bus) because they can't be relied on to pop up in a timely manner. Watching. TV series on Apple TV (iTunes) is a far worse experience than using a service like Netflix - pauses to buffer more often, doesn't automatically scale resolution to cope with bandwidth problems, doesn't skip the credits and/or automatically play the next episode.

Those are just a few examples of how Apple services and in nowhere near the same league as Apple hardware/software products.

Mail's web interface is very nice though, I'll give them that. For a very complicated HTML5 heavy web app, it runs quickly and glitch free in my experience, I'm impressed. Could do wi some more advanced features though - smart search folders for example.

Edit: Oh, and of course they still won't let us combine our old non-iCloud iTunes account with out new iCloud account, forcing many of us to maintain two accounts with Apple.

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Is it crazy that I've been using DuckDuckGo as my default search engine for almost half a year now?

Do you find the results as good as Google's, or are you sticking with it for principled reasons? I really wanted to like it, but I just found the results weren't as good. Same problem with Bing, and what's it called, the default search engine in TOR.

 

[mfvisuals]

Why not just buy Google?

Apple has a lot of money, but not THAT MUCH money.

 

[Aidyn's X]

I don't find it to be incredible on my 6 Plus. In Des Moines it directed me to pick my wife up on the shoulder of the Interstate when she was standing in front of an office 200 yards away from that point (location shared by her iPhone) and it seems not to understand the concept of one way streets. The UI is pretty, but other than that I am not impressed.

I have a similar story about Google Maps bringing me to somebody's back yard instead of bringing me to the front entrance of a vineyard. I could see the vineyard entrance but to get there by car was another 25 minute trip. I'm sure that doesn't mean that Google Maps is bad. It just can't be correct 100% of the time.

 

[citysnaps]

OK, I appreciate the "millions and millions can't be wrong" argument. Millions and millions of people smoke and do drugs too so I guess them "opening their wallets to buy" and "continue to be delighted over the years" makes those products at least as good as anything from Apple as well.

On a personal level, I bet I own more Apple stuff than you, so apparently, my opinion probably counts at least as much as your opinion. I'm happy that you never have a problem with Apple Maps and that your iPhones and iPads never crash. How wonderful for you. Unfortunately, I am not so lucky (or blind).

I think people who post comments that are not Apple "rah rah" are not necessarily doing so to waste their time or as part of "living on tech forums". Instead, I think they post because they care... they want their products to work better or wonder if maybe others in the community might have a way to resolve issues. If every thread here reflected your experiences:
-that you never have any issues with Maps
-that you never have any issues with iDevice's crashing
etc, this community would quickly die of sheer boredom. 500 posts of "rah rah Apple" for every thread would get old fast. All positive or all negative posts to everything Apple would also get old fast.

In a survey of 2 here- you and me- you allegedly never have a single problem with Apple software and I have some problems with Apple software. Unless you or I are a complete anomaly, I would guess that "millions and millions" probably share in our experiences of either Apple perfection or Apple Not Quite (perfection). Overall the experience of owning and buying Apple yields either perfection and "delight" for those like you or "happy enough" with the whole experience to put up with some issues for people like me. It doesn't necessarily mean that millions and millions have replications of your or my experiences with our Apple stuff.

As I said earlier, anecdotal experiences on tech forums are of little relevance. If Apple is blowing it that will be reflected by customers unwilling to open their wallet for new Apple purchases. Apple's quarterly numbers indicate otherwise in a profound manner.

BTW, intentionally misquoting me (putting it charitably) with "never having a single problem with Apple software" only weakens your position.

Is there a reason you need to make stuff up? I think many consider that desperation and a sign of running out of gas.

 

[RenoG]

Huh! Ontouchable? Are we talking about the same heavily biased results.

Let me say this then, in MY experience when compared to the others that I have used, Yahoo and Bing. There, is that better?
You speak as though you've found and use one that out performs Google, please do share.

 

[japanime]

funny, people like to say that, but all i use is AM. and per the net traffic, the stat counters say the majority of iOS users just use AM.

Perhaps that's because it launches by default when iOS invokes a map?

Have you used Apple Maps lately? It's pretty incredible now.

what you're referencing was a long long time ago.

I launched Apple Maps (which was released in September 2012 — hardly a long, long time ago) last week to check something in my city. It still has several things wrong. Google Maps, on the other hand, is pinpoint accurate.

 

[Aidyn's X]

I think people who post comments that are not Apple "rah rah" are not necessarily doing so to waste their time or as part of "living on tech forums". Instead, I think they post because they care... they want their products to work better or wonder if maybe others in the community might have a way to resolve issues. If every thread here reflected your experiences:
-that you never have any issues with Maps
-that you never have any issues with iDevice's crashing
etc, this community would quickly die of sheer boredom. 500 posts of "rah rah Apple" for every thread would get old fast. All positive or all negative posts to everything Apple would also get old fast.

I personally used to read the comment section on rumor posts like these because I found the people posting within them to be very well informed on current issues and could learn a lot from reading their interpretations of the rumors. Lately it seems that the conjectures of the well-informed have taken a downturn to anyone and everyone complaining about relevant and irrelevant things about Apple and other companies.

I used to be excited to hear people take a rumor and predict the future of Apple in ways that would make me think. There was still arguing but it was about the difference in opinion of how this rumored new fact would change the future. People would contribute links to other articles to support their hypotheses and to help educate other users of the information that is out there. Now the arguing has devolved to the same trite argument over whether Apple is good or bad and to what degree and most of it is based on nothing at all.

There are still people in these forums contributing great thoughts and information that make these forums fun and interesting to read. I don't a lack of complaining would make the forums boring, that seems to be what is already making them so. I don't want cheerleader posts or naysayers, I want to hear informed people make great predictions about the future of Apple.

I cannot expect that the comment section of every post on Macrumors to be like this, but the ones that hint at a possible future for Apple in a new tech area are the ones that used to be full of insightful and meaningful posts. I guess I just miss them.

 

[Tech198]

kewl..... bot

Do ya stuff.... ...actually no don't do ya stuff..... This could replace Google search in desktop and iOS...

As long as the option remains, i'll be all set to say "no thanks"

 

[Dekema2]

@people complaining that Apple do too much stuff now, that they should focus one fewer products - times have changed. We like our products to work together now more than ever. A big part of that is ecosystems - one company controlling the whole experience.

However, I have little expectation of Apple making a good search engine. Their history of services has been marginally better of late, but still not great. iMessage still won't merge a conversation between one person using two addresses, for example, Maps still doesn't have Street View which is infinitely more useful than the somewhat flashier but totally gimmicky Fly Over, and Geofenced Reminders are useless for time critical things (like getting off your train/bus) because they can't be relied on to pop up in a timely manner. Watching. TV series on Apple TV (iTunes) is a far worse experience than using a service like Netflix - pauses to buffer more often, doesn't automatically scale resolution to cope with bandwidth problems, doesn't skip the credits and/or automatically play the next episode.

Those are just a few examples of how Apple services and in nowhere near the same league as Apple hardware/software products.

Mail's web interface is very nice though, I'll give them that. For a very complicated HTML5 heavy web app, it runs quickly and glitch free in my experience, I'm impressed. Could do wi some more advanced features though - smart search folders for example.

Edit: Oh, and of course they still won't let us combine our old non-iCloud iTunes account with out new iCloud account, forcing many of us to maintain two accounts with Apple.

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Do you find the results as good as Google's, or are you sticking with it for principled reasons? I really wanted to like it, but I just found the results weren't as good. Same problem with Bing, and what's it called, the default search engine in TOR.

For me at least, the results are very similar to that of Google, but when I need to find a wide array of images or look for newspaper articles/super specific stuff, I sometimes need to use Google.

Basically, Google has become my backup search engine.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

As I said earlier, anecdotal experiences on tech forums are of little relevance. If Apple is blowing it that will be reflected by customers unwilling to open their wallet for new Apple purchases. Apple's quarterly numbers indicate otherwise in a profound manner.

And, as I said earlier, if we are going to try to imply that massive sales makes the seller very right, the drug and tobacco sellers are also apparently very right.

BTW, intentionally misquoting me (putting it charitably) with "never having a single problem with Apple software" only weakens your position.

My apologies, I did extrapolate "last 2 years" and "over multiple generations" to "never" and that was wrong... probably driven by my own wish to get through 2 weeks or sometimes 2 days without one of the bugs I referenced showing itself in my Apple stuff. Here is a quote of what you did say...

For the last two years Maps hasn't lead me astray, and my iPhones and iPads have not crashed over multiple generations.

If that has truly been your experience, congratulations. I'm envious of 2 years of Maps being right every time and multiple generations of iPhones and iPads never crashing. I wish my own experience was even fractionally as good as that. Maps just took me to a wrong location yesterday and doing something in Safari also crashed my iPad just yesterday too.

Nevertheless, the whole of the experience is good enough to motivate me to keep opening my wallet and contributing to those quarterly numbers. My observed problems & issues is not enough to make me vote with my wallet by NOT buying Apple. I just want BETTER from Apple. Even a fraction of how good Apple is apparently delivering for you would make me happier.

 

[n-evo]

Competition is good for us, the consumers, right?

If Apple were to buy DuckDuckGo, I would fear that we would lose the ability to use it in any browser other than Safari, which, since Apple killed Safari for Windows several years ago, would mean that the only way to use DuckDuckGo anymore would be from iOS or OS X.

Personally, I'm often forced to use Windows 7 at work, so I like the ability to use DuckDuckGo with Chrome.

Like how iCloud.com only works in Safari? Oh wait.

 

[bbeagle]

Apple has a lot of money, but not THAT MUCH money.

Apple is worth TWICE what Google is worth

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Like how iCloud.com only works in Safari? Oh wait.

Apple could do away with the concept of a search engine being a website at all. It's something you access via Spotlight or Finder - not something you access via your address bar or by visiting a website in a web browser.

 

[roadbloc]

Regretfully Apple never seem to be able to get their cloud services on par with the rest of the industry. I have no high hopes for this.

 

[H2SO4]

hes not being ridiculous -- on the iOS platform, apple has stolen the maps market share. heres a story on it from two years ago:

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/11/1...-all-other-ios-mapping-apps-including-google/

...that will only have continued to get worse for GM on iOS.

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I dont believe that’s accurate, and if it is I don’t think it tells the whole story. The quoted figures only talk about the actual downloadable App. You can also access Google Maps through a browser, (and not just Safari either).
It's likely that Apple's success is largely due to the incredible advantage default apps hold on mobile platforms, with the majority of users finding Apple Maps to be "good enough" and not looking for an alternative.
Which isn’t to say that the Cupertino offering is better, in fact if people go out of there way to use the version that assumedly, (on here of course), track your every move version that first has to be downloaded and takes up extra space on your device I’d say that’s kudos to Google.