History

In 2019, multinational technology company

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various sma ...

was affected by the sanctions enforced during an ongoing international trade ban.

’s new and upcoming Android smartphones were denied access to

Google Mobile Services Google Mobile Services (GMS) is a collection of proprietary applications and application programming interfaces (APIs) services from Google that are typically pre-installed on Android devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. GM ...

. Due to these restrictions,

decided to expand the scope of the Petal Search service to create an independent

search engine A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...

. In 2022, Petal Search has been announced as the winner of iF DESIGN AWARD 2022.

Functionality

Third-party App Stores

Petal Search is a mobile search engine and also provides users who are searching for mobile phone applications with results from the AppGallery (

's official

app store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...

) and other third-party stores. When a user searches for an app, Petal Search includes results from "trusted" app stores. This feature is integrated with the AppGallery.

Search Channels

Visual Search

Petal Search supports searching for

photos A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

reverse image search Reverse image search is a content-based image retrieval (CBIR) query technique that involves providing the CBIR system with a sample image that it will then base its search upon; in terms of information retrieval, the sample image is very useful ...

, and the standard text-based search. Visual search functions rely on

’s visual search technology, HiTouch. It can search for and detect multiple objects in an image at the same time. For example, when a user takes a photo of a sofa with a blanket and a cushion on it, Petal Search can identify all three items, and then deliver

search results A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in ...

based on that.

Voice Search

Petal Search supports voice search for English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Turkish and other languages.

News Search

Petal Search crawls and lists results from

news outlets The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media ( newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news ( radio and television), ...

Video Search

Petal Search provides users specifically with video URLs if chosen by the user. If a general query returns video results it will also be included in the results page.

App Search

Petal Search offers a

mobile application A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on des ...

search functionality which allows users to search the AppGallery and other third-party sources.

Shopping Search

Users can search for consumer products on Petal Search and then follow a link to the

online store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

make a purchase.

Travel Search

A flight reservation function is available on Petal Search. Users can also book hotels or search for information on flights such as the arrival time. Nearby restaurants, local tourist spots and attractions and local events can also be searched for.

Local Search

The Near Me function facilitate finding local businesses, nearby products and services and consumer reviews. Data providers: Uberall, Tripadvisor,

Yell A yell is a loud vocalization; see screaming. Yell may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Yell, Shetland, one of the North Isles of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland * Yell Sound, Shetland, Scotland United States * Yell, Tennessee, an un ...

, Foursquare and more.

Design

Petal Search’s logo design is based on the shape of a

magnifying glass A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle. A magnifying glass can be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the sun's radiation to c ...

. The main focus is currently to develop the service for mobile devices, therefore its design is rooted in a “ mobile-first” approach. It also offers a “ dark mode” option.

Availability

Petal Search is active in different markets around the world, currently focusing its operations in European countries. Mainly in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. As of November 2021, Petal Search supports 55 languages and is available in 170 countries and regions around the world. Currently, Petal Search application is available to download in

Huawei AppGallery Huawei AppGallery (abbreviated AppGallery onscreen) is a package manager and application distribution platform, or marketplace 'app store', developed by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. for the Google-developed open-source Android operating sys ...

and Apple App Store.

References

Internet search engines Huawei products

External links

Official website
{{Web search engines navbox