How to search Google Hangouts and Calendar, and other areas where Google s search fails
How to search Google Hangouts and Calendar, and other areas where Google’s search fails
Remarkably, search isn’t always Google’s strength. Andy Wolber offers a few workarounds when search falls brief.
By Andy Wolber | April 12, 2016, 11:Legal AM PST
In an organization, search matters. People need to be able to find relevant documents, messages, and people. You’d think that effective search would be a natural strength of Google’s apps in the enterprise. but that’s not always the case.
In some Google apps, search works well. Google Photos, for example, does an amazing job of finding pictures based on a search term thanks to the power of Google’s machine learning instruments. Google Drive offers helpful options that let you narrow your search by file type or by modification date. And, Gmail and Inbox search both quickly locate email conversations. Search works in all three of these apps in both mobile apps and on the web.
Some Google apps, however, make search downright difficult. So difficult that, in some cases, Google seems to be telling you truly shouldn’t search.
Dear user: Please don’t search your Hangouts messages
Want to search Hangouts messages? Open your web browser to the desktop version of Gmail. (Switched to Inbox? You need to go to the Gmail interface.) Next, type "in:talks" followed by your search term.
Read that again.
Google’s suggested method to search Hangouts involves a utter web browser, an older email interface, and an obscure search term. Technically, this permits you to search your Hangouts messages. Let me also suggest that technically, reading every book in a library to locate a specific search term also solves search. Neither method is convenient nor user-friendly.
Dear user: Also, please don’t search in a Community in the Google+ app
Want to search for specific content in a Google+ Community on your phone? Have the Google+ app installed? Superb! Stop using it. Google makes this lighter on the iPhone with a convenient "View on Web" option.
Close the app, then open http://plus.Google.com in your browser. Go to your Community. Then tap the More menu—the little little three line button in the upper right—below your Account pic. Choose "Search" from there.
Recall: If a feature isn’t available in the app, attempt the Google+ mobile website. You can always switch back and forward inbetween the two.
Dear user: OK, if you must, search your Calendar
The search feature emerges on the main screen of a few Google mobile apps. For example, Chrome, Gmail, Inbox, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slips, Keep, Google+, Maps, Google Cast, Google Photos, and YouTube. All suggest search as a main screen function.
Google demotes search to a menu item in Calendar. Just tap the three line menu on the left, then choose Search.
Dear user: Please recall where you see something
Back in 2010, you could search from within Gmail, then see results from both Gmail and Google Drive documents thanks to an experimental feature.
In December 2014, Google announced it would "be ending the Apps Search lab experiment, which is unstable and provides lower quality results." Google then announced a fresh instant results search feature "for Google Apps customers in late-2015 or early 2016." (A setting for the discontinued Apps Search feature still exists, buried deep in an obscure Google Apps admin control panel: Apps > Gmail > Labs > check the Advanced Labs Management box > Apps Search.) As of mid-April 2016, we wait for instant results.
In the meantime, you’ll need to reminisce where you see information. Was that in Gmail? Keep? Drive? A Google Site? Google+? Hangouts? Open each app, then search. App by app.
Simpler search? Slack
One good benefit of Google search was the "one box" concept. Type your keywords and receive relevant results.
But, poor search practices prompted me to switch away from Google+ for some tasks. Previously, I used a Google+ Community for a university class I train to share articles, post assignments, and receive links to student work. This year, I switched from Google+ to Slack, in part, because I had difficulty finding specific student posts with search in Google+.
More about Mobility
The irony, of course, is that Google could make effective multi-app search a benefit of Google Apps. But today, Google produces neither consistent search in all apps, nor a unified search practice of Google Apps data. As a result, Google Apps customers search in Google software silos. Maybe the next big chance for Google in the enterprise is better search?
How to search Google Hangouts and Calendar, and other areas where Google s search fails
How to search Google Hangouts and Calendar, and other areas where Google’s search fails
Remarkably, search isn’t always Google’s strength. Andy Wolber offers a few workarounds when search falls brief.
By Andy Wolber | April 12, 2016, 11:Eighteen AM PST
In an organization, search matters. People need to be able to find relevant documents, messages, and people. You’d think that effective search would be a natural strength of Google’s apps in the enterprise. but that’s not always the case.
In some Google apps, search works well. Google Photos, for example, does an amazing job of finding photos based on a search term thanks to the power of Google’s machine learning contraptions. Google Drive offers helpful options that let you narrow your search by file type or by modification date. And, Gmail and Inbox search both quickly locate email conversations. Search works in all three of these apps in both mobile apps and on the web.
Some Google apps, tho’, make search downright difficult. So difficult that, in some cases, Google seems to be telling you truly shouldn’t search.
Dear user: Please don’t search your Hangouts messages
Want to search Hangouts messages? Open your web browser to the desktop version of Gmail. (Switched to Inbox? You need to go to the Gmail interface.) Next, type "in:talks" followed by your search term.
Read that again.
Google’s suggested method to search Hangouts involves a total web browser, an older email interface, and an obscure search term. Technically, this permits you to search your Hangouts messages. Let me also suggest that technically, reading every book in a library to locate a specific search term also solves search. Neither method is convenient nor user-friendly.
Dear user: Also, please don’t search in a Community in the Google+ app
Want to search for specific content in a Google+ Community on your phone? Have the Google+ app installed? Excellent! Stop using it. Google makes this lighter on the iPhone with a convenient "View on Web" option.
Close the app, then open http://plus.Google.com in your browser. Go to your Community. Then tap the More menu—the lil’ little three line button in the upper right—below your Account pic. Choose "Search" from there.
Reminisce: If a feature isn’t available in the app, attempt the Google+ mobile website. You can always switch back and forward inbetween the two.
Dear user: OK, if you must, search your Calendar
The search feature shows up on the main screen of a few Google mobile apps. For example, Chrome, Gmail, Inbox, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Glides, Keep, Google+, Maps, Google Cast, Google Photos, and YouTube. All suggest search as a main screen function.
Google demotes search to a menu item in Calendar. Just tap the three line menu on the left, then choose Search.
Dear user: Please recall where you see something
Back in 2010, you could search from within Gmail, then see results from both Gmail and Google Drive documents thanks to an experimental feature.
In December 2014, Google announced it would "be ending the Apps Search lab experiment, which is unstable and provides lower quality results." Google then announced a fresh instant results search feature "for Google Apps customers in late-2015 or early 2016." (A setting for the discontinued Apps Search feature still exists, buried deep in an obscure Google Apps admin control panel: Apps > Gmail > Labs > check the Advanced Labs Management box > Apps Search.) As of mid-April 2016, we wait for instant results.
In the meantime, you’ll need to reminisce where you see information. Was that in Gmail? Keep? Drive? A Google Site? Google+? Hangouts? Open each app, then search. App by app.
Simpler search? Slack
One excellent benefit of Google search was the "one box" concept. Type your keywords and receive relevant results.
But, poor search practices prompted me to switch away from Google+ for some tasks. Previously, I used a Google+ Community for a university class I train to share articles, post assignments, and receive links to student work. This year, I switched from Google+ to Slack, in part, because I had difficulty finding specific student posts with search in Google+.
More about Mobility
The irony, of course, is that Google could make effective multi-app search a benefit of Google Apps. But today, Google supplies neither consistent search in all apps, nor a unified search practice of Google Apps data. As a result, Google Apps customers search in Google software silos. Maybe the next big chance for Google in the enterprise is better search?
How to search Google Hangouts and Calendar, and other areas where Google s search fails
How to search Google Hangouts and Calendar, and other areas where Google’s search fails
Remarkably, search isn’t always Google’s strength. Andy Wolber offers a few workarounds when search falls brief.
By Andy Wolber | April 12, 2016, 11:Legal AM PST
In an organization, search matters. People need to be able to find relevant documents, messages, and people. You’d think that effective search would be a natural strength of Google’s apps in the enterprise. but that’s not always the case.
In some Google apps, search works well. Google Photos, for example, does an amazing job of finding photos based on a search term thanks to the power of Google’s machine learning contraptions. Google Drive offers helpful options that let you narrow your search by file type or by modification date. And, Gmail and Inbox search both quickly locate email conversations. Search works in all three of these apps in both mobile apps and on the web.
Some Google apps, tho’, make search downright difficult. So difficult that, in some cases, Google seems to be telling you truly shouldn’t search.
Dear user: Please don’t search your Hangouts messages
Want to search Hangouts messages? Open your web browser to the desktop version of Gmail. (Switched to Inbox? You need to go to the Gmail interface.) Next, type "in:talks" followed by your search term.
Read that again.
Google’s suggested method to search Hangouts involves a total web browser, an older email interface, and an obscure search term. Technically, this permits you to search your Hangouts messages. Let me also suggest that technically, reading every book in a library to locate a specific search term also solves search. Neither method is convenient nor user-friendly.
Dear user: Also, please don’t search in a Community in the Google+ app
Want to search for specific content in a Google+ Community on your phone? Have the Google+ app installed? Fine! Stop using it. Google makes this lighter on the iPhone with a convenient "View on Web" option.
Close the app, then open http://plus.Google.com in your browser. Go to your Community. Then tap the More menu—the little little three line button in the upper right—below your Account pic. Choose "Search" from there.
Reminisce: If a feature isn’t available in the app, attempt the Google+ mobile website. You can always switch back and forward inbetween the two.
Dear user: OK, if you must, search your Calendar
The search feature shows up on the main screen of a few Google mobile apps. For example, Chrome, Gmail, Inbox, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Glides, Keep, Google+, Maps, Google Cast, Google Photos, and YouTube. All suggest search as a main screen function.
Google demotes search to a menu item in Calendar. Just tap the three line menu on the left, then choose Search.
Dear user: Please recall where you see something
Back in 2010, you could search from within Gmail, then see results from both Gmail and Google Drive documents thanks to an experimental feature.
In December 2014, Google announced it would "be ending the Apps Search lab experiment, which is unstable and provides lower quality results." Google then announced a fresh instant results search feature "for Google Apps customers in late-2015 or early 2016." (A setting for the discontinued Apps Search feature still exists, buried deep in an obscure Google Apps admin control panel: Apps > Gmail > Labs > check the Advanced Labs Management box > Apps Search.) As of mid-April 2016, we wait for instant results.
In the meantime, you’ll need to recall where you see information. Was that in Gmail? Keep? Drive? A Google Site? Google+? Hangouts? Open each app, then search. App by app.
Simpler search? Slack
One good benefit of Google search was the "one box" concept. Type your keywords and receive relevant results.
But, poor search practices prompted me to switch away from Google+ for some tasks. Previously, I used a Google+ Community for a university class I train to share articles, post assignments, and receive links to student work. This year, I switched from Google+ to Slack, in part, because I had difficulty finding specific student posts with search in Google+.
More about Mobility
The irony, of course, is that Google could make effective multi-app search a benefit of Google Apps. But today, Google supplies neither consistent search in all apps, nor a unified search practice of Google Apps data. As a result, Google Apps customers search in Google software silos. Maybe the next big chance for Google in the enterprise is better search?