I opened the App Store today to search for the emulator I'd read about, and a new prompt appeared below the search bar inviting me to “Search the way you talk.” I didn't see the signal on my iPhone 13 Pro Max at first, and frankly, I missed it About iOS 18.1 Update Notes,
As described, Apple's October update Added, “App Store Search lets you use natural language to more easily find what you're looking for.” This isn't the only place Apple is adding natural language search with iOS 18, besides Photos, Music, and Apple TV.
while some others had saw a splash screen In October, I only saw the same simple search prompts as before. when i asked around The VergeMany others had not seen it before, although closing the app and relaunching it caused the message to appear in at least one case, and Some? social media post have come forward By other people noticing it for the first time.
The prompt in the hint bubble suggested trying something like “Apps that help me workout,” so of course, I tried it.
Screenshot: iOS App Store
How well does it work? When I searched for “emulators that feature multiple consoles”, the top result was the multi-console Delta app. Cold. “Apps that only emulate a single console” gave me PS Remote Play, PlayStation and Xbox apps – less good, but it followed apps with Gamma, a PS1 emulator app. And when I asked for “video games that can help me work out”,…
Overall, this seems like an improvement to me. Twerk Race 3D is not an app that will help me work out, but the search engine seems to have caught on with the feeling. I never felt like searching the App Store was helpful for anything other than finding an app whose name I already knew. Additionally, searching with generic one- or two-word terms may not give me the same variety that I would if I transformed a natural language signal into a phrase.