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Vlad Sure, here are some examples from the DuckDuckGo app:

Here's the search widget on the homescreen. It's really just an extra-wide button that opens the search UI. (Ignore the bottom Google search box, it can't be removed and isn't relevant here.)

When you click the widget, you get this interface with the search box and the autosuggest results. It's a native app, so it opens immediately and is more responsive than a web page.

The DuckDuckGo app then opens its results in its own full-featured web browser, but I'd personally prefer if the Kagi results opened directly as a single results page in the app (like the Google app) or just opened my default browser to the results page.

  • Vlad replied to this.

      ajhall Thanks that is very helpful. Are there any settings for this, or just by installing the app you get that widget?

          You can already do it with Firefox 🙂. Just change the default search engine and use their search widget as you are doing with DDG. IIRC you can even configure for the widget to show the list of search engines (so you can choose between Kagi and DDG for example) while you are typing the search query.

          Vlad Most/all browsers for Android comes with the possibility of adding their widget to your homescreen. It ships with the app but you add the widget just like how you add a weather widget.

            Right. @ajhall If you would like it to open in your default browser, why not use the search widget from that browser, setting it to use Kagi as default search engine?

              6 days later

              It's true, that almost gets exactly what I want, minus the fact that Firefox on Android can't handle the auto-suggestions for custom search engines. I set up Kagi in Chrome and added a widget and it works fully, suggestions and all.

              I opened a PR for the Firefox Android app to allow a custom suggestion URL in the search engine setup. That would solve it for my purposes.

              • Vlad replied to this.
                19 days later

                Vlad Sure, please go ahead and close it. (Sorry for the delay, I must have turned notifications off)

                  a year later

                  For anyone coming here for a solution for Android: after setting Kagi as your default search engine in Chrome, go to your home screen, click and hold, click on widgets, friend Chrome and choose the Chrome search widget.

                    gtirloni Thank you. Would you mind adding this to kagi docs? help.kagi.com you can click edit to edit any page.

                      6 months later

                      I think a dedicated app on android still would be nice to have. I can add a firefox shortcut to my homescreen but that doesn't come with a nice icon 🙁 Also a dedicated app is in my opinion better than having to use a browser. Like i use the google app all the time for quick searches (that i dont wan't hanging around in my browser's open tabs). Also nice to have the main UI not get downloaded all the time or something. To be fair google app is also nice that it shows you recent news when you open it.

                        Atahan What would the app need to have? Would we need to build an entire browser?

                        • carl replied to this.

                            Atahan I agree with you 100%

                            Vlad What would the app need to have? Would we need to build an entire browser?

                            You can open links with the users default Android browser, right?

                            I think Kagi could reach many more users by having dedicated apps for mobile. People are used to installing apps, they're used to paying for apps, they love it. They are not used to changing their default search engine or installing browser extensions and giving them permission to view all sites. That's weird, it's a hassle.

                            In iOS, the implementation would be easy for a Kagi app. Give the search results, clicking a link opens the page in the Webkit view that every app uses. Such an approach makes much more sense than asking users to hack their Safari search engine with a plugin.

                                  a month later
                                  Vlad changed the title to Add a mobile Kagi app with quick search widget for Apple and Android .

                                    Moved from Orionfeedback

                                    One of my most useful widgets by far on my phone is the "Search" widget from the Google app. This widget it simple - it is a search bar that can be added by a user to their home screen that allows for immediate, seamless search queries using Google. I use this widget several times a day, as I have it is the easiest way to quickly look up a small, sudden query that pops up in my head without having to spend the extra second opening up a web browser.

                                    There is no such widget available, to my knowledge, for Kagi. This is a shame, as while I am a happy Kagi user and have set up Kagi to be my default search engine on my phone, I still find it much easier to use the widget rather than open a browser and use Google, which inadvertently leads me to barely ever using Kagi on mobile.

                                    II believe adding such a widget would encourage users to use Kagi as their preferred engine on mobile platforms, instead of relying on the easiest alternative when wanting to do a quick search.

                                    Question for everyone: What would be the minimum requirements for a mobile Kagi app?

                                      Vlad

                                      • Search widget with a bar and quick actions such as "Assistant", "Images", "News", etc.
                                      • Optimally: A native Assistant UI designed for mobile with the same levels of responsiveness you'd find in other chat apps. like ChatGPT

                                        I don't believe that an app exclusively for Kagi search should be particularly complicated, if its express purpose is to answer quick queries like the Google app. If anything, the simpler the better — the app should be fast and easy to navigate first and foremost, even if it's at the expense of easy accessibility to more niche or granular Kagi/browser features which might otherwise clutter or slow down the experience. After all, the purpose of the app would not be to be people's main phone browser.

                                        Yeah, I agree that basic search, images, & news would be a minimum requirement.

                                        Though I believe that highlighting text and being able to search Kagi for that would be something to consider for faster searching. Example of the menu I mean shown below:
                                        Video of text being selected with context items being show in the menu above
                                        Source