How to use google voice search (siri alternative)

I have iPhone 4 so I don't have Siri. But my friend does and I've compared them. While both have their advantages and disadvantages. Google wins as far as just giving you answers quickly.

The short comings is the google voice search cannot open other apps besides safari. It cannot dictate messages and it doesn't have conversations. But if you just need a quick answer. It's much faster.

Get the free Google search app. Notice the voice search microphone icon. Tap it to do a voice search.

By default the "speak answer back" should already be turned on. This means you'll hear a voice answer your questions. You can turn this off in settings if you wish.

Tap the red button and speak your search. Keep in mind this is not a chatbot like Siri. It's simply a method of searching with your voice rather than typing.

After you speak your query it'll search for the answer. It usually happens within a second or two.

When you see this box on top if the search. You'll usually hear a voice speak the answer out loud as well just like Siri. Followed by google search results.

You can ask it many questions. Here I asked about basketball scores.

You can also search for locations near by. Here I searched for gas stations in my area.

Every once in a while I'm getting this message. It's only happened a few times but every time it's happened I just ran the search again and it worked. Much be a glitch. I'm sure they'll fix it soon.

As I said. It won't open other apps like Siri. But it can open things in safari such as google maps.

If you happen to have a jailbroken device. There's a tweak in cydia called NowNow that'll allow you to access the google voice search with your home button just like Siri.

Well I just wanted to share that. For just finding answers google voice search is often faster than Siri. Basically google just answers. Siri flirts a little before getting to the answer. :)