The recent iOS 4.2 update for the iPad added a lot (over 100) cool new features to the device. One of those is the ability to search for text within web pages in the Mobile Safari app. In the comments on a recent post about using the Multitasking Bar on the iPad, Michael asked about how to use this Find in Page feature.

Happily, this is another feature where Apple kept things nice and simple. Find in Page has been built right into the standard Google search bar. That’s the search bar that is just to the right of the URL address line at the top of the Safari app. So when you type in your search word, you get a popover dialog with some Google suggestions – you just need to scroll down on that list and you’ll see the section titled ‘On This Page’, and the number of results in parentheses.

Once you tap on ‘Find X’ (your search term), Safari shows the first instance of it on the page you’re on. It also shows a thin control bar at the bottom that tells you that it is showing 1 of X (however many results there are) and has a Next button to jump to the next instance of the search term. 

That’s all there is to this one. A small  but very handy new feature for the iPad.