We’ve all used the search feature in the App Store to find the apps we need. Soon, Apple plans to make that search even better. According to reports from Mark Gurman in Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, Apple will add its powerful internal search engine called “Pegasus” to the App Store and other apps.
Apple first showed improvements to its Spotlight search tool in iOS 14. Spotlight lets iPhone and iPad users search for all sorts of things, like web results, app information, documents, and more. Now Apple wants to put the Pegasus search engine in more places across iOS and macOS. This could help users find what they need even faster.
The search team at Apple used to include John Giannandrea, a former Google executive. They have been working hard on Pegasus. Apple may also use a type of artificial intelligence called “generative AI” to make searches even smarter. Last year, Apple launched a tool called Business Connect, which helped it collect more details on businesses’ locations and hours. This can assist Apple in competing with Google for search results.
While Apple’s current Spotlight and app search are not as advanced as Google Search, Apple does earn money from ads in the App Store. If Apple launches its own search engine, it might be able to generate more ad revenue. However, Apple executives have said in the past that they do not need to build their own search engine. Only time will tell if they decide to move forward with this plan to make Pegasus available to all.
