Amazon Adds A New Search Method, Improved Order Management, And More To Their Mobile App
September 8, 2011
Whether you're shopping for school, home, work, or other, it's all about finding the best price. A little earlier today, Amazon released an update to their Amazon Mobile app that will not only provide a little assistance in finding your wish list items, and at a low price, but also help track them on the way to your doorstep.
There are several methods to find products, depending on how specific your results need to be. Many of us do our shopping online, where it usually ends up being about browsing by category or searching by keyword, then sifting through dozens of results. That's fine and dandy, however, sometimes it seems more practical to head to a local retail store, especially when you can get a hands-on experience before purchasing.
Before today's update, you could use your iPhone's camera and the "Scan It" search feature to make a quick scan of the product's packaging barcode to do a little price comparison, determining if it would be more pocketbook-friendly to order the item online. As efficient as barcode scanning has become for most iOS apps, it doesn't always work as planned, which is likely why Amazon added the new "Snap It" as an alternative to the current "Scan It" option.
Available within the search area in when using Amazon Mobile v1.6 or later on your iPhone, "Snap It" allows you to take a photo of the front of the product packaging -- movies, music albums, and books work best -- to perform a search. Comparing your photo to product images, the Amazon Mobile app can provide results nearly as quick as the barcode scanning feature, and sometimes more accurately. In fact, the movie I tested wasn't even recognized by the barcode scan but came up flawlessly when using the "Snap It" feature.
When viewing product details on Amazon.com or in the mobile app, there is a section that displays related items. This section is intended to present similar products that may better meet your needs or offer the same capabilities at a cheaper price, recommend companion items, and increase overall sales, of course. Amazon Mobile v1.6 lists even more related items than before, introducing products you may not know about.
It's now the point where you've found and ordered everything you needed -- and maybe more. The next step is to track those packages. Retyping long tracking numbers can be tedious, and may lead to mistakes. Thankfully, Amazon finally realized this and now allows the order number and tracking number fields to be copied using a simple double tap. In addition, tapping on item names within the order details will bring yo to the associated product page, where you can order another.
There is just one more thing to mention. Seemingly only accessible on the iPhone and iPod touch side of the app, a new "Change Country" option is available under the More section. Amazon Mobile is available in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, and Italy.
Amazon Mobile is a universal app compatible with iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or later, and available in the App Store as a free download.
