Google Instant Now in Beta for Most iPhones and Android Devices

Back in September, when Google pulled the curtain off Google Instant, there were already people clamoring for it to be on their Android device, and not simply meant as a desktop experience. While we did find out that Instant was certainly working on some Android-based devices, for the most part and for most owners in the United States, they weren't able to get in on the goodness. But, that's all about to change.

Google has just announced that they've smacked their favorite Beta tag on Google Instant for Mobile, and that it is now made available for most Android-powered devices in the United States. Now, when you go to Google.com on your mobile phone, you shouldn't have to worry about pushing that 'Search' key anymore, as the search results should populate in real-time, as you type in the search box.

It's supposed to work just like the desktop version, but we imagine that on a few handsets out there, the experience won't be as smooth as it possibly should be. Though, for the high-end phones out there, using Google Instant should be just as fun to watch as it is to use. Check out the video below to see what Instant looks like on the mobile platform.

Official Statement

The power of Google Instant, now in your pocket

11/04/2010 01:01:00 PM

Google Instant makes search faster by displaying not just predictions but actual search results as you type. This saves valuable time on a desktop browser, but wouldn't it be great to have Google Instant on mobile devices, where each keystroke and page load is much slower and you frequently have just a moment to find the information you need?

In September we announced that we were working to bring Google Instant to mobile, and today we're making a beta version available to most iPhone and Android devices in the U.S. To try it out, go to google.com in your phone's browser and tap the Google Instant "Turn on" link beneath the search box (if you don't see the "Turn on" link, try waiting a moment and then refresh the page).

Like the desktop version of Google Instant, when you type on your mobile device you'll see predictions of what you might be searching for. If you type [anse], for example, you should see [ansel adams] along with other predictions. Results for the first prediction appear automatically, and tapping on the other predictions will display those results. Pressing the enter key or the search button skips the predictions and will display results for exactly what you've typed. Check out our demo video:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-_HxR5QFn8&feature=player_embedded]

With Google Instant on mobile, we're pushing the limits of mobile browsers and wireless networks. You will probably notice a big improvement in speed when you search thanks to a new AJAX and HTML5 implementation for mobile that dynamically updates the page with new results and eliminates the need to load a new page for each query.

Google Instant for mobile works best on 3G and WiFi networks, but since the quality of any wireless connection can fluctuate, we've made it easy to enable or disable Google Instant without ever leaving the page. Just tap the "Turn on" or "Turn off" link.

We hope you'll enjoy using Google Instant for mobile as much as we enjoyed making it. It's currently available for Android 2.2 ("Froyo") devices and iPhones and iPods running iOS 4 in the U.S. in English. We're working to support additional countries and languages and more devices in the coming months, so stay tuned.