Review: CloudMagic lives inside Windows 8

CloudMagic has gone Metro. The excellent search service, which I've been a fan of since it made its debut in 2010, is now available as a native application for Windows 8's Metro interface. CloudMagic's Windows 8 edition still delivers super-speedy, accurate search results across a host of services, but it is a bit hamstrung by some of Windows 8's own problems.

You can download the CloudMagic app from Microsoft's Windows Store, and it installs quickly. If you already have a CloudMagic account, the app remembers all of your settings, and doesn't need much in the way of set up: You log in and you're good to go.

If you don't have a CloudMagic account already, the signup process is simple, and it's easy to link the services you'd like it to search. CloudMagic currently searches the following services: AOL, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Gmail, Google Apps, Google Drive, Google Talk, GMX, Hotmail, iCloud, Mail.com, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Microsoft Office 365, MSN, Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Twitter, Windows Live, and Yahoo Mail. You simply grant CloudMagic access to the accounts you'd like it to search, and it goes to work indexing them.

While the basics are the same, the actual experience of using CloudMagic as a Windows 8 Metro app is very different from using it in your browser, as an extension. Where the browser extension displays results right on the Web page you're viewing, the Metro app is its own standalone app. You search from within the app itself and see all of the results in there, too.

I do like how CloudMagic still organizes the results by type: You can see messages, people, files & docs, posts & updates, and events, and you can limit your search to just one of these categories if you have an idea of what you're looking for.

As always, CloudMagic's results appear quickly, in real-time as you type, and proved to be very accurate. And CloudMagic's subscription model is in place: you can view 50 free "previews" each month. (CloudMagic considers a preview the action you take after getting the search result, in which you click the result that seems relevant and you're shown a quick preview of the content it returned.) If you want to see more than 50 previews, you'll need to hand over $5 a month for a Pro account.

CloudMagic's Metro app features a Metro-fied interface, with a big search bar at the top and even bigger search results.

What's different about CloudMagic's Metro app is its Metro-fied interface, which displays results in large text in a column on the left side of the screen. I didn't test it on a touch-screen device, but I can see how this interface would work well with one. Clicking on one of the results brings up a preview on the right side of the screen. Depending on what type of content this preview contains, you'll also see certain options underneath the preview. If it's an email message, for example, you'll see options that include "Reply" and "Open."

Here's the unfortunate part of using CloudMagic in the Windows 8 modern UI: Much of the content that CloudMagic searches is available from services—like Facebook and Gmail—that are not yet available as Metro apps. So, when you open them, you're taken to your browser, back in Windows 8's Desktop interface. The experience isn't exactly seamless, especially because being back in your browser shows you the CloudMagic browser extensions—which reminded me, at least, of how much I like using it. It lets you switch between sites and services with ease.

This flaw isn't CloudMagic's fault—they can't make Google and Facebook release Metro apps, after all—as much as it is a reminder of the limits of Windows 8. The good news is this: When Windows 8 improves, so, too, will the experience of using CloudMagic's Metro app.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the Windows Store, where you can download the latest version of the software.

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CloudMagic Brings Swift Gmail/Twitter Search to iOS and Android Apps

WebYog's lightning-fast CloudMagic search tool (free) has impressed me since I reviewed a previous version over a year ago. I like its speed, I like its layout, and I like its support for Twitter. And I especially like the fact that CloudMagic has gone mobile. That's right: CloudMagic's super-speedy searches are now accessible from iOS and Android devices.

A few changes have come to CloudMagic along with this mobile capability. For one, you must sign up for an account before using the service, even if you're opting to use just the browser extension available for Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. The mobile version is available as a free download from the iOS App Store or Android Market. Both iterations of CloudMagic will search your Gmail, Google Apps Email, Google Docs, Google Calendars, and Google Contacts accounts, in addition to your Twitter account.

Luckily, signing up for an account is as simple as filling in an email address and a password. Then, you must link the services you'd like CloudMagic to search--Gmail, Google Apps, and/or Twitter--to CloudMagic, by granting it access to your accounts.

Once access has been granted, CloudMagic then begins indexing your accounts, which can take some time if your accounts are sizable. It took several hours to index a Gmail account containing 7 years of messages, but only a few minutes to index a newer Twitter account. You can begin searching right away, but waiting until the indexing process is complete will deliver more accurate results.

CloudMagic's mobile version presents your results in a list that's easy to view on a small screen.The results that CloudMagic delivers are, indeed, excellent, as is the tabbed system it uses to display them on your desktop. And CloudMagic is fast. Really fast. Super fast. However you want to describe it, know this: CloudMagic won't leave you waiting. Results appear in real-time.

CloudMagic lets you search one account from within another, too: You can, for example, search Twitter from within Gmail. The tabbed interface easily lets you switch between Mails, Events, Docs, Contacts, and Tweets, so finding what you want is a snap. Can't remember if you scheduled a dinner with someone? One search query sifts through email messages and calendar entries alike.

The mobile version of CloudMagic, eschews the tabbed interface in favor of a streamlined look more suitable for viewing on a mobile screen. Results appear in a simple list, with a label identifying the source, whether that's your email, calendar, contacts, or twitter account. Just like the desktop version, the mobile app delivers accurate, real-time results. Anyone who's ever felt the frustration of using the iPhone's built-in email search--especially when it fails to find any results and suggests that you "Continue Search on Server...:"--will jump with joy when they see how quickly and easily CloudMagic handles the same task.

CloudMagic impresses me with its speed and accuracy every time I use it. With the addition of mobile search, this super-fast, super-cool browser add-on has only gotten better.

-- Liane Cassavoy

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