Official: Google Instant Now Available On iPhone & Android

The blogs are buzzing about Google Instant finally coming to iPhones and Android devices now. If you go to Google.com and conduct a search using one of those mobile devices, you may just see it if you have the latest operating system, Android 2.2 or iOS 4.

Google has just confirmed the new features, which many were spotting earlier. I believe I saw it start yesterday, but being that I often use the Google search box in the toolbar of the browser, as opposed typing in a query on Google.com’s search box within the browser, it didn’t stand out to me.

Anyway, here is a picture from my iPhone:

As you can somewhat see from the screen shot, you can turn off Instant at the bottom of the screen.

When you turn it on, and start typing, Google will flip you to the search results – as you type. Personally, I don’t find this as useful on an iPhone than on a desktop screen. Why? Well, look at the screen shot below. You don’t see any of the results, except for a part of a search ad. The only way to see the search results is to hide the keyboard.

As said, Google Instant is also available for those searching with Android devices, too. If you use an Android or iPhone phone (or an iPod touch) and do NOT see it, chances are you aren’t using the latest software. It only works for Android 2.2 or iOS4.

Don’t like it? You can turn it off, Google says. Just use the “Turn Off” link at the bottom of the search page (or Turn On, if it’s not enabled, as might happen if Google detects you have a poor bandwidth connection).

Google’s also got a video out showing Google Instant on mobile devices in action:

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.