We got a chance to look at Yahoo’s new Sketch-A-Search app for the iPhone and it’s an interesting new approach to searching for a place to eat on your phone.
The search company said it can be difficult to seek out content on a mobile phone because of the screen size and buttons, so they’re letting users draw shapes on a map to discover local content. Interestingly enough, it uses Google Maps because that’s the default in the iPhone SDK.
Once you draw your search area, you’re hit with details (ratings, pricing, etc.) and have the option of getting directions or clicking to call. Right now, they’re focusing on restaurants but the company sees multiple uses for this – real estate, shopping, etc. It worked pretty well during the demo below, and there are filters to narrow down your results by cuisine, atmosphere and price. The free app is available in the App Store today.