Ecosia now a default search engine option on iOS, iPadOS, macOS

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AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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Ecosia is a search engine that promotes privacy first and plants trees around the world, and with Mondays updates, it is now available as a default search engine setting on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Ecosia now available as default search engine on iOS, iPadOS, macOS
Ecosia now available as default search engine on iOS, iPadOS, macOS


Ecosia uses their income from search ads to fund planting trees around the world in harsh environments. The search engine doesn't track users, encrypts searches, and anonymizes data within a week of it being created.

The ad revenue generated from Apple users alone have planted over seven million trees in 2020, and now you can do more by making it the default search engine. The website shows over 115 million trees have been planted as a result of search revenue so far.

Users can customize what data is gathered by using the Safari browser extension or altering settings on the website, which creates a cookie to store those settings. Ecosia uses keyword searches rather than building user-data profiles and hyper-targeting. The company also makes its earnings reports public to show exactly where finances are being distributed.

Browsers that can be set to default in Safari settings:
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Bing
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Ecosia
When a default search engine is set, it will replace Google everywhere web search occurs on the device within the OS except when using Siri. Spotlight search will pull data from everywhere on the device or use the default search engine to surface web results. When asking Siri for information it will search Google using a random identifier so Google doesn't know its you.

Set Ecosia as your default browser on iOS and iPadOS by navigating to Settings, scroll to Safari, and select Search Engine. On macOS set the default search engine from Safari settings.

Users who wish to set Ecosia as their default must update to iOS 14.3, iPadOS 14.3 or macOS 11.1 to do so.

Even as Apple adds competitors to Google to its platform, it appears as if Apple itself is preparing an in-house search engine. While web crawlers used by Apple could be related to bolstering Siri results, it could also indicate a larger project for Apple's search engine.
Andy.HardwakeDogperson

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    I wouldn't have thought Ecosia was big enough for Apple to notice.  Well done Ecosia.
    elijahggregoriusmDogperson
     2Likes 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 2 of 15
    JinTechjintech Posts: 1,092member
    I use DuckDuckGo and only just recently heard of Ecosia. 
    gregoriusmwatto_cobraDogperson
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 15
    Beatsbeats Posts: 3,073member
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 15
    george kaplangeorge kaplan Posts: 169member
    Beats said:
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
    If I asked you a question and you answered me, YOU would be more popular than Bing. Microsoft has spent billions on it, it is the default engine in IE and Edge shipped on millions of Windows PCs, and Bing has slightly more than 1% of the search business.
    gregoriusmrazorpitRayz2016sphericwatto_cobra
     3Likes 0Dislikes 2Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 15
    barthrhbarthrh Posts: 144member
    Beats said:
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
    Ecosia uses Bing as the back end, which is why it's so disappointing. Results are terrible. Fortunately, there is a button to repeat your search in Google. This way, you can get Ecosia some tree dollars but then get proper results.
    frantisekspheric
     1Like 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 6 of 15
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    george kaplan said:
    Beats said:
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
    If I asked you a question and you answered me, YOU would be more popular than Bing. Microsoft has spent billions on it, it is the default engine in IE and Edge shipped on millions of Windows PCs, and Bing has slightly more than 1% of the search business.
    LOL, funniest thing I’ve read today. Do it! I want to see Bing go down and @Beats jump up in the rankings.  :D
    Beatswatto_cobra
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 15
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Never heard of it and I like DuckDuckGo.
    razorpitwatto_cobra
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 15
    frantisekfrantisek Posts: 761member
    barthrh said:
    Beats said:
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
    Ecosia uses Bing as the back end, which is why it's so disappointing. Results are terrible. Fortunately, there is a button to repeat your search in Google. This way, you can get Ecosia some tree dollars but then get proper results.
    Same experience here. No re let in three pages. Google on first position. But thanks for button tip.  haven't  realized that.
    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 9 of 15
    jeffythequickjeffythequick Posts: 269member
    The main issue with DuckDuckGo and Ecosia is in the name.

    What's in a name?

    Let me Google that.

    It's frankly difficult to say, "Let me DuckDuckGo that," or "Ecosia it"

    At a point 20 years ago, google was a rhyme for the noun googol, representing 10^100.
    Now, it's a verb for searching things.

    Suggested name for Ecosia's search engine:
    Tree-free, eSearch (for Earth Search), SearchTree (invokes trees and how trees branch out to find things)
    "Tree-free it" - Will need time to build, but is distinguishable
    "eSearch it" - easy for early adoption
    "SearchTree it" - Kind of middle of the road between the above two
    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 15
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    It's pretty easy to say "let me Bing that" but it still didn't take.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 11 of 15
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,195member
    I wonder how much it costs to plant "115 million trees."  Wouldn't that have to be over a billion dollars?  Color me skeptical of this claim for a virtually unknown company.
    SpamSandwichwatto_cobra
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 12 of 15
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,195member
    jeffythequick said:
    The main issue with DuckDuckGo and Ecosia is in the name.

    What's in a name?

    Let me Google that.

    It's frankly difficult to say, "Let me DuckDuckGo that," or "Ecosia it"

    At a point 20 years ago, google was a rhyme for the noun googol, representing 10^100.
    Now, it's a verb for searching things.

    To be pedantic, "Google" is the search engine company, "googol" is 10^100.  
    SpamSandwichjeffythequickwatto_cobraDogperson
     3Likes 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 13 of 15
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    I wonder how much it costs to plant "115 million trees."  Wouldn't that have to be over a billion dollars?  Color me skeptical of this claim for a virtually unknown company.
    They're pretty transparent about how much money they make and how and where they spend it: https://blog.ecosia.org/ecosia-financial-reports-tree-planting-receipts/
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 14 of 15
    jeffythequickjeffythequick Posts: 269member
    randominternetperson said:
    jeffythequick said:
    The main issue with DuckDuckGo and Ecosia is in the name.

    What's in a name?

    Let me Google that.

    It's frankly difficult to say, "Let me DuckDuckGo that," or "Ecosia it"

    At a point 20 years ago, google was a rhyme for the noun googol, representing 10^100.
    Now, it's a verb for searching things.

    To be pedantic, "Google" is the search engine company, "googol" is 10^100.  
    I thought I stated that in the 5th line, but rereading it, I shouldn't multitask while posting...  (and I should capitalize proper nouns... ;)
    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 15 of 15
    Beatsbeats Posts: 3,073member
    Beats said:
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
    If I asked you a question and you answered me, YOU would be more popular than Bing. Microsoft has spent billions on it, it is the default engine in IE and Edge shipped on millions of Windows PCs, and Bing has slightly more than 1% of the search business.

    True but I mean who's next to Google besides Bing? Wouldn't mind if Ecosia was second place or even DuckDuckGo.

    barthrh said:
    Beats said:
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
    Ecosia uses Bing as the back end, which is why it's so disappointing. Results are terrible. Fortunately, there is a button to repeat your search in Google. This way, you can get Ecosia some tree dollars but then get proper results.


    Although Bing destroys Google in video search as it includes non-YouTube results in a fair manner.

    razorpit said:
    Beats said:
    What a sh**tty name but wow what a company. Would be cool if it become more popular than Bing. Can't see it becoming bigger than Google with that name, same for DuckDuckGo.
    If I asked you a question and you answered me, YOU would be more popular than Bing. Microsoft has spent billions on it, it is the default engine in IE and Edge shipped on millions of Windows PCs, and Bing has slightly more than 1% of the search business.
    LOL, funniest thing I’ve read today. Do it! I want to see Bing go down and @Beats jump up in the rankings.  :D


    edited December 2020
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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