On an iPhone, you search with Safari by default, but there are more ways to find what you need. This is how you set a different default search engine on iOS.
Change search engine on iOS
Google is the default search engine on iOS. All searches through Safari, Apple’s own browser, are performed by the competitor. That is not a friendly gesture from Apple, but a business deal. Google makes a lot of money for this ‘preferential treatment’.
However, not everyone is happy with this. Google is increasingly appearing in news reports about privacy scandals and last year even stood before the US Congress to answer for alleged monopolistic behavior. Enough reasons to try a different search engine on iOS:
- Grab your iPhone and open the Settings app;
- Scroll down and tap on ‘Safari’;
- Choose Search Engine and tap the desired Google alternative.
From now on, all your searches will be performed via a different search engine by default. The choice consists of Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. The former is from Microsoft and the latter is the most privacy-friendly. DuckDuckGo does not track your searches or store any personal information.
Keep in mind that all four search engines work slightly differently. A search at Google shows different results than a question at DuckDuckGo. That’s because the search engines use different techniques to scan the internet.
More freedom of choice in iOS 14
Last fall, Apple released iOS 14, the major iPhone software update of 2020. A subtle, but no less important change is that you now have more freedom of choice on your iPhone.
In iOS 14 you can select your default browser and mail app yourself. So you are no longer dependent on Apple’s offer. iOS 14 is available for all iPhones that were capable of iOS 13. Read our review of iOS 14 and check the article on the right for an overview of the new functions.
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