Google for Android: Now you can start searching even with no connection
The Google app will now queue searches if there's no connection and deliver results when a connection is re-established.
A new feature available on the Google app for Android removes the obstacle of beginning a search when there's no mobile signal or only patchy coverage.
The updated app will now queue searches if there's no connection and deliver the result when a connection is re-established, Google says in a blogpost.
The new offline capabilities for search join similar improvements to its other apps, such as Google Translate, Google Maps, and its lightweight search-result pages, which aim to patch up key features when a poor connection would otherwise break them.
"Mobile networks can sometimes be inconsistent or spotty, which means that even if you have a connection when you start your search, it might fail before you get your results back. With this change, search results are saved as soon as they are retrieved, even if you lose connection afterwards or go into airplane mode," Google explains.
While the feature doesn't enable offline search per se, it is a workaround to the problem of searching when there is no connection or if the signal is dropped, for example, while driving through a tunnel, in an underground train, or in a remote area.
The updated Google app for Android will now monitor in the background for a decent network connection and once one is found, it delivers a notification detailing the number of results that are ready to view.
Despite the additional background activity, Google says the feature "won't drain your battery", and since it features streamlined search-result pages, it shouldn't impact data usage.
The feature is available in the latest version of the Google app for Android.