While I may occasionally make noises about changing brand loyalty, there’s some pretty good reasons I’ve stuck with my iPhone for the last five years. Familiarity – by which I mean “not wanting to deal with the learning curve of figuring out how to use a new device” – is definitely in the top three. I wouldn’t have necessarily identified Spotlight Search as one of the others, though, until I realized that Android phones don’t have it.
Spotlight Search – that little search bar you can pull down on your iPhone to search through your device’s content without having to sort through all the apps manually – seems like such a small thing, but when you use your phone for everything from sending emails email to paying bills to running your startup, it’s a huge timesaver. I suppose it’s unnecessary if you use your phone for, well, phone calls, and not much else. But if you’re like most folk I know and have dozens of apps and a time-is-money mentality, Spotlight Search is your best friend. Well, unless you’re an Android user. In which case, you’ll just have to keep on swiping to find the right apps, opening your browser to search for a webpage, and opening your contacts app to find contact info, right?
Wrong. WhereDat, an Android search engine app, is here to make your Android more efficient. The app, which brands itself as “the Spotlight Search for Android,” allows you to easily and instantly locate apps, contacts, recently accessed web pages, and calendar events – without ever leaving your home screen.
Whether you’re converting from iOS to Android or accustomed to using your Android as much more than a phone, WhereDat will allow you to find anything on your phone with one click, and uses deep linking to search inside your apps. The app uses proprietary technology with local data scanning, which means the search is both private and fast – according to WhereDat, faster than any of its competitors.
What else is there to say? It’s a simple, well-executed solution that allows Android users to waste less time swiping and tapping, and topples yet another one of my reasons to resist Google’s inevitable takeover of the world, a la Skynet.
Excited to get a piece of the time-saving action that iPhone users have enjoyed for years with Spotlight Search? WhereDat is currently available on Google Play. Have feedback for their beta testing? Shoot them an email with any questions or suggestions.
