Users of Google’s iOS app can now search privately through the addition of an incognito mode, with the software’s video search capabilities also improved.

With incognito mode, search and browsing history is not saved. It can also be Touch ID-enabled, so users can re-enter an existing private session if they exit the app.

The latest update also means YouTube videos can be watched straight from search.

“Skip the extra step before you break into dance to your favourite music video or before you learn a thing or two in the latest how-to. No new web pages + less load time = more fun,” the company said in a blog.

It also claimed the the app is now twice as reliable and less likely to crash.

Last week, when it rolled out the Allo messaging app, Google was criticised for not fully delivering on privacy promises.

Google said all chats are encrypted using industry standard technologies. The app has an incognito mode where messages will have end-to-end encryption.

However, according to The Verge, Google will store all non-incognito messages by default, a “change from its earlier statements that the app would only store messages transiently and in non-identifiable form”.