Normally, when you want to search for an app on your Android device, you open the Google Play Store, tap the search button, and then start poking around for whatever app it is you might want. If you’re unsure of what app you want, the search will take a bit more time.

Until now.

Google has made the process of searching for apps a whole lot easier and a heck of a lot prettier. This new feature comes to us in a recent Google Now update (version 1.1.0.11167994) and allows you to use the power of Google Now to search for possible apps to install.

If you’re curious as to how this search works, let me show you. I’ll demonstrate a search for music apps.

Open Google Now (either by saying “Okay Google Now” or by tapping the home button and swiping upward) and speak the phrase, “Okay Google Now show me music apps.” Google Now might respond with something like “Here are your Gmail messages.” Those Gmail messages will be listed in the top results (and will contain portions of your search string, as shown in Figure A).

Figure A

Searching for apps with Google Now on a Verizon-branded Nexus 6.

What you’re looking for will be listed under the Apps category. Swipe upward on the results page, and you’ll see a listing of available apps related to the search string (Figure B).

Figure B

Google Now results for music apps search.

The key here is to end your search phrase with the word “apps.” So, you could say, “Okay Google Now show me productivity apps,” and the results would include apps related to productivity.

Google Now continues to grow more useful. This handy app search trick should make it easier to continue your quest for the perfect apps.

Have you found a cool Google Now trick that has saved you time? If so, share it with your fellow TechRepublic readers in the discussion thread below.