DuckDuckGo app review: a search engine with a difference 2021

Introduction

For a search engine iPhone app to compete with the big boys like Google, Bing, and Yahoo it has to offer something just a little bit different. All of these major search engines return results for web pages, videos, and images but they all track your search behavior as well.

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If you’re looking for a search engine app that has all these standard features but also protects your privacy then DuckDuckGo may be just the app you’re looking for. This is a free app and it’s compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Keep reading our DuckDuckGo app review to see how this good search engine app for iPhone measures up to your web searching needs. 

Private Searching

DuckDuckGo has the same look and feel of all the major search engines: you won’t notice any major differences. What differentiates DuckDuckGo from the other search engines is what’s going on in the background.

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The developers created a search engine that allows you to search in complete anonymity; they don’t track any of your search data. This is pretty refreshing in today’s world where everything you do seems to be tracked by somebody.

Like most other search engines you will have to put up with ads being prominently featured at the top of each search. This is how search engines make their money, after all.

On the positive side the sponsored ads in this search engine are just one line so they’re not a major issue. Other than that there are no surprises in this app. This app will require 2.3 MB of free space on your iOS device. 

How it Works

DuckDuckGo’s interface is fairly simple so there aren’t a lot of bells and whistles in this one. There are only three different sections on the main screen of the app: a menu, a search bar, and a stories section.

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In the menu section you can access a few different features such as a favorites section if you’ve saved any of your favorite searches, a settings section, and a list of your recent searches. In the settings sections there’s actually quite a few options that you can use to modify your searches such as the ability to turn auto-suggestions on or off.

The search bar works just like any other search bar you simply type your search in the bar and hit enter. The app will then provide you with a list of possible results for what you’re looking for once you select one you’ll see a standard list of web page results.

It does seem to do a good job of filtering out a lot of the irrelevant results you find with other search engines where most of the results link to good sources.

The only really innovative thing you’ll find in this app, other than the privacy of your search, is the stories feature. Underneath the main search bar of the app you’ll see a list of interesting stories from around the web that DuckDuckGo has compiled as suggestions. There are some great stories here on some of the interesting things going on in the world today.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Standard search engine interface
• Private browsing
• Great story features

Cons

• Ads at the top of each search

Final Words

DuckDuckGo provides all the features of a standard search engine and protects your privacy as well. There are some great customization options and as an added bonus they provide a great list of story suggestions. This app is a great alternative to the major search engines.