Skip to main content

Searching on Pinterest takes one less tap with the latest update

searching on pinterest
Marcel de Grijs/123rf
Pinterest users are exploring ideas with search tools more than ever before, and in response, the image-collecting site is making search easier to access. On Monday, Pinterest announced an update that moves the search feature from the navigation bar to the home page, saving mobile users a tap. With the change, Pinterest search options, including the image-based search called Lens, are accessible directly from the home feed.

Nearly 85 percent of Pinterest searches are made on mobile devices, Pinterest says. With the previous version, mobile users had to tap the search icon in the bottom navigation bar to access the features. In the latest update, now available in iOS and launching soon for Android users, the search bar is now at the very top of the home feed, which users see when first opening the app.

The relocated search feature functions in the same way as the previous search tool, with the traditional text-based search bar. Tapping the camera icon next to the search bar allows users to explore via image, using the built-in camera or an existing image. Called Lens, the feature is still in beta testing, but Pinterest is frequently adding new capabilities, like the latest option to search based on what’s already in your closet.

With the growth of Lens, it’s unsurprising to see that Pinterest’s visual searches have increased by 60 percent from the same time last year. Text searches have also increased by 40 percent. Pinterest search is a bit different from the typical web search, since many users turn to the modern mood board when they aren’t quite sure what they are searching for. “This kind of open-minded searching is what makes Pinterest so unique,” the company wrote in a blog post. “You don’t need to know what something’s called, or which brand made it. You can start your search broad, then quickly narrow in on the specific solution that’s right for you.”

Along with Lens, recent search changes have made it easier to narrow search results by tapping the circle at the corner of a pin to see similar results. According to the latest data, 73 percent of Pinterest searches are three words or less. The average Pinterest search turns up 60 Pins, which the platform says is about five times what a traditional search shows.

Along with the relocated search bar, updating the app will also give users recommendations that are instantly updated based on their searches and pins. The update also helps eliminate duplicate pins from popping up in the home feed.

Pinterest currently has 175 million active monthly users.

Editors' Recommendations

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
Would you trust Verizon’s new privacy-focused OneSearch to protect your data?
OneSearch

Verizon is looking to put some major security breaches behind it with a brand-new, privacy-focused platform called OneSearch. Built on a model that involves encrypting search terms, leaving results unfiltered, and not storing or transferring of any user information whatsoever, it's going after the privacy-conscious web users of the world.

In 2020, the search engine market is both hotly competitive and not even remotely so. Google controls almost 93% of all searches, with Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Yandex, and everyone else battling it out for scant shares of the remainder. Some of those, like DuckDuckGo, Qwant, and StartPage, hope to attract an audience by putting privacy first. They don't track users, don't sell their data, and don't filter search results. Those are all features of Verizon's new OneSearch platform as well, but it's hoping that its polished product, and a few more features, will be enough to draw the privacy conscious away from their established searching patterns.

Read more
Photoshop for iPad gets one-tap selections, takes baby step toward desktop power
photoshop for ipad update roadmap november 2019 0365

Photoshop for iPad has a ways to go before the mobile version is as robust as the desktop software -- but that’s not stopping the new app from making a few firsts along the way. On Monday, December 16, Adobe launched Select Subject on Photoshop for iPad. Adobe says that the tool is a first for any iPad app, with no other apps offering a selection tool that’s simultaneously as powerful and simple.

Like the desktop tool, Select Subject uses machine learning to analyze the image and make a selection around the subject. The tool uses multiple algorithms to create the finished selection, including one to actually find the subject and one to create a sharp edge with minimal artifacts. While using multiple algorithms, the tool works in one tap.

Read more
Microsoft cautions against installing the latest Windows 10 update
A woman sits by a desk and types on a laptop that runs Windows 10.

Installing the KB4520062 cumulative update for Windows 10 – released on October 15 – could break the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) service. That’s the warning provided in Microsoft’s release notes, stating that certain customers should not install this update.

“After installing this update, the Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) service might stop running and might fail to send reporting data,” the warning reads. “You might also receive a 0xc0000409 error in Event Viewer in MsSense.exe.”

Read more