Apple dumps Bing for Google in Siri on macOS and iOS


Four years after dropping Google in favor of Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Apple is reverting back to its original arrangement.

Mobile and desktop Safari browsers already default to Google; this update simply brings Siri, the iOS Search bar, and Spotlight into the fold.


“Switching to Google as the Web search provider … within iOS and Spotlight on Mac will allow these services to have a consistent Web search experience with the default in Safari,” according to an Apple statement, emailed to Geek. “We have strong relationships with Google and Microsoft and remain committed to delivering the best user experience possible.”

This isn’t exactly a groundbreaking update: iDevice owners may notice slight changes to Siri’s “I don’t know what you’re asking but here are Web results”/”Siri, search the Web for…” responses.

Images, meanwhile, are still mined from Bing—”for now,” TechCrunch reported, highlighting Microsoft’s “more than solid image results.”

As of Monday afternoon, worldwide macOS and iOS users should be searching with Google. This ends a four-year partnership between Redmond and Cupertino, which, in June 2013, dropped Google as its Web search engine in favor of Bing.

“We value our relationship with Apple and look forward to continuing to partner with them in many ways, including a Bing Image Search in Siri, to provide the best experience possible for our customers,” a Microsoft spokesman told Geek.

“Bing has grown every year since its launch, now powering over a third of all the PC search volume in the US, and continues to grow worldwide,” the company continued. “It also powers the search experiences of many other partners, including Yahoo (Verizon), AOL, and Amazon, as well as the multi-lingual abilities of Twitter.”

The tech titan won’t let one major setback get it down, though.

“As we move forward, given our work to advance the field of AI, we’re confident that Bing will be at the forefront of providing a more intelligent search experience for our customers and partners,” the statement said.

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