Path Search Update Is a Smart Trip Down Memory Lane

Path has rolled out a new search function to its iOS and Android apps, allowing users to recall stories and memories they have shared on the social platform in the past.Path — an intimate social network with a 50-friend limit — has embraced search with its latest update, which is now available in the App Store and Google Play. But it's not just any search — it's smart too, offering personalized search suggestions.

By pulling photos, check-ins and other updates previously shared, users can type in keywords such as "Thanksgiving last year" or "funny turkey photo" for results. The company said it was designed so "you can search like you think.

"Recently, our tools and methods for keeping our own memories safe have been shoe boxes, notebooks, photo albums, home videos, folders of pictures on computers, cell phone photo libraries," Path said in a blog post. "But today we’re offering a new way: Search, on Path 2.9. Search allows you to find all of your memories instantly.

Other search categories include friends, places, dates and holidays, seasons and weather, locations, birthdays, moments and emotions. In addition, selecting "nearby" will bring up updates captured near your current location.

Users can also import updates to Path from Facebook, Instagram, and Foursquare to keep memories in one spot.

The company said it will be rolling out search in increments to English users first.
Do you think Path's new search functionality is the wave of the future? Could it teach other sites such as Facebook a thing or two about social search?