Google Search App for iPad Brings Google Web Services Into Native iOS App

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Google just released an updated native search application for the iPad. But while the app is meant for running Google searches straight from a native iPad app, users can also run other Google apps from within the application itself.

Google has recently launched its redesigned native iOS search application meant for the Apple iPad and iPad 2, which makes search more accessible to users of Apple’s tablet platform. But as a side-effect, Google is essentially implementing what some users say is like porting Chrome OS and its apps to the iPad. The new Google app for the iPad is a world apart from the Google Search application available on the iPhone and iPod touch, in that users can access the various Google services straight from the app, which provide a better interface than simply accessing them through mobile Safari.

The Next Web says it’s in stark contrast to the likewise recently-released Gmail app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, which is essentially the mobile, HTML5 web version of Gmail in an iOS application wrapper. As the Gmail application uses a web view in interacting with the user, the app is a bit slow in terms of response and user experience. The iPad search application, meanwhile, has a better user interface and is more responsive.

What’s interesting with the new Google app for the iPad is that users can likewise launch several Google services as if they’re running on a native app themselves. These include Gmail, Google+, Docs, Calendar, Reader, News, Photos, Maps, Translate, Voice, Books, as well as Google brands YouTube and Blogger.

It is speculated that Google might soon replace these apps with native applications within the Google search application, which will, in effect, turn the Google application into a platform by itself, which is like running a tablet version of Google Chrome with all the web-bound applications that users can launch from the main application screen.

Apart from the apps, of course, Search is the main highlight of the new Google app for the iPad. This includes Google Instant, window panes that let users continue to browse the resulting pages while still continuing a search, and an improved image search result screen. But with the ability to run Google apps within the native iOS application, is Google planning to likewise implement a bigger set of apps within its native iPad app?