Russian search engine Yandex has released its own Windows Phone app making it easy to carry out smart search queries against its index. As well as being able to display standard ("site") search results, the app is also able to provide instant answer to some popular search queries by showing images, maps and weather forecasts.

Yandex is the fifth biggest search engine in the world (by search volume) and enjoys 60% marketshare in Russia. That marketshare is reflected in its search results, which combine a mix of English and Russian language search results, making the app best suited to those that live in Russia, or those who wish to search for Russian language content.

When performing a basic search the app includes a useful auto-complete feature, which picks up most common queries, and speeds search term entry. Search results are presented in an infinite scrolling list (i.e. the app will automatically load more results as you move towards the bottom of the list)/ Each result has a page title, text snippets and URL. Search terms present in the page title or text snippet are highlighted using the user specified platform-wide highlight colour. 

The app is also able to provide direct answers for some queries. For example, "weather san francisco" will show a weather forecast for San Francisco for the next 24 hours, while "hotels san francisco" will show a map and listing of hotels in San Francisco. In all cases these cases the smart search results are shown on an appropriately titled pivot, with the standard "site" search results one swipe away.

Yandex.Search provides quick and easy access to search results with a Russian accent and it makes good use of the Windows Phone UI, with most result just a simple swipe gesture away. The benefit of using the Yandex Windows Phone app over the standard mobile site is that results are generally presented more quickly and in a clearer form. 

Marketplace description:

The Yandex Search app has been specially designed for people with the Windows Phone OS. The app will help you find answers to your questions no matter where you are.

Information about websites can be found directly in Yandex search results, including: text snippets of site content, telephone and address of business sites, product images and prices, movie times etc. 

The app can also provide instant answers to popular mobile searches such as ATM and café locations, weather forecasts, news and images. You can go to Yandex standard search results with a single gesture.

Yandex.Search can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Marketplace for free.