Not long after we released our first video in the Microsoft on Android series, Bing and Cortana, Microsoft releases a huge overhaul of the Bing app for Android and iOS; And what a redesign it was. We thought it would be a good idea to finish out the series looking back and catching up on all the changes they made.

Microsoft took a huge amount of inspiration from their recently redesigned Bing website to clean up the aging interface design language. The gold has been swapped for blue throughout the interface and though the black is sticking around, there is translucency abound. The design of the icons and content is very flat and in line with the rest of the recent updates across Microsoft software line. The app has also been slightly reorganized, with the main navigation being moved from the hamburger menu to under the search button, front and center. There are some small feature additions, like a Today screen showing weather and news information, a revamped browser design with tabs, a built-in barcode scanner, and a tool called “Near Me” that provides location specific suggestions for places and events as well. All of the more unique features of the Bing app like the Bing button and Snapshots on Tap are still right where they belong thankfully and it’s nice to see Microsoft giving some love to Bing.

Even though Cortana is slowly encroaching on a lot of the same functionality you can get from Bing, right now the Bing app on Android is our pick between the two for most things. The Bing app is quick and fully fleshed out compared to the Cortana app on Android, which is very much a work in progress right now in terms of overall performance and features.