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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

                            • A search widget with search suggestions that opens in my default browser
                            • All UI elements of the app should respect my OS wide dark-mode setting
                            • Being able to set the OS wide default search engine as per the DMA

                            Maybe quick access to the AI assistant features would be nice. Either in the app, or by replacing Google Assistant? Not sure. Other than a search widget, I don't really need the app to do much. The actual browsing of the results should be in my default web browser

                            I got my Pixel 6 updated with the latest Android update.
                            With it, it ask to choose a search engine:

                            A kagi app would be cool to be able to select kagi as a default search engine on Android.

                            It would be great if the app on iOS also supported the newly added action button (on iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max) via Shortcut option, so that you could launch search directly by holding the action button on the side. Even better if it would start listening for speech and convert that to a text query and run the search, after a short pause when user stops speaking. For older iPhones it would just be available via shortcuts integration.

                            I believe Google's Assistant app does support this, but I cannot confirm as it is not available in my country. With ChatGPT app you can start a voice conversation.

                            Google Pixel Launcher now allows for custom search engines, at least in the EU. Would love to be able to use Kagi here as well, not just in the phones browser.

                            Some information here: https://www.androidpolice.com/pixel-launcher-change-default-search-engine/

                            User will be able to use Kagi directly from their phones home screen without having to go via a browser. This will put Kagi search right at the front and be much more accessible from the default Pixel Launcher.