The dark mode craze shows no signs of abating, and Microsoft Bing is the latest app to receive a new look. When you're using your Android 10 phone's system-wide dark mode, the Bing search app will now change color to match.
The latest update (available to download now in the Google Play Store) also gives the app a substantial speed boost and fixes several bugs.
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That might not be enough to tempt you away from the world's most popular search engine, but Microsoft has added several other features to Bing in recent months to make it worth a second look.
For example, its 'Intelligent Answers' give you the most common answer from a range of sites, to compensate for the fact that the top search result may not necessarily be the most accurate one.
They aren't affected by ads or your search history, which is intended to help break you out of any echo chambers you've become trapped in. In a 2018 interview, head of Microsoft Bing Jordi Rivas told TechRadar that search engines have a duty to show users a bigger picture.
"We need to work harder and invest in these more advanced algorithms that help us understand that a given question has multiple perspectives," he said.
You still might not choose to make Bing your default search engine, but it's at least worth a try if you're making an important decision and want to ensure you're getting a balanced overview.
Bing me the horizon
If you're more financially motivated, Microsoft's Bing reward program offers credits that you can redeem against gift cards for brands including Amazon, Skype, Xbox and Domino's in exchange for using Bing.
A counter in your browser tallies up your searches, and there are different membership tiers depending on your commitment to the search engine. This incentive is only available in the US at present, but will hopefully expand to other territories soon.
According to StatCounter, only 2.34% of searches worldwide were performed using Bing, so it still has a long way to go before it'll present a threat to Google's crown, but in a time when Microsoft is busy cutting dead wood from Windows 10, it's good to see that it's still investing in search and ensuring users have a choice.
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