Bing by Microsoft (review)

When it comes to apps, two of the components that stand out to me are its beauty and usability. When you can mix “beauty & usability” with “search,” you get “Bing” by Microsoft Corporation.

I recently installed Bing on my devices (iPad, Android tablet, iPhone, Galaxy S III), and am absolutely loving this app. In short, Bing is a search engine/browser by Microsoft Corporation. It has a beautiful & intuitive user-interface. The look and functionality of Bing differs across the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.



Upon launching Bing, you will first notice the unique background image/wallpaper, which changes daily. This wallpaper is interactive, and if you tap it, you will see some tidbits of knowledge pop up about the wallpaper image. In the iPad version of the Bing app, you are able to swipe to the right and see past Bing wallpaper images and tap on them for their Easter Egg popups.

Across the top, all versions of the app contain a search bar with a microphone inside or next to it. By tapping the microphone, you are able to conduct a voice search, in which the results were pretty accurate across all my devices in testing.

Each app provides search categories that you may tap on... images, videos, maps, local, deals (not on the iPad version), movies, news, shopping, directions, travel, and weather. The iPad app also offers trends, finance, and history to the category listing. When you tap on a category, say... “deals” for example, it will display all the local deals in your area. If you tap on “movies,” you will see a list of films playing in your area (upon other accessible functionality with which you may interact). I will not go into detail on all of the categories, but encourage you to try them for yourself!

A unique item of Bing on the iPhone is the ability to scan and search within the app. In the search bar, you will see a camera icon. Tap this camera icon to launch this functionality. You can search text, a barcode, or an image. I tried it on a book I had nearby, and it worked perfectly.

All apps allow you to share your search results via email, SMS, Facebook, or via a plethora of apps on your iOS or Android device. All versions also allow you to bookmark your favorites as well.

You can download Bing free in the App Store:
Bing for iPad - Microsoft Corporation