Yesterday, Google’s voice search function for the iPhone finally debuted. The feature allows users to speak a search term, which is then transmitted to Google’s servers, recognized, and entered as a search term.

iPhone Atlas suggests that in the initial testing, the feature works surprisingly well, easily recognizing simple, single words like “animals” and “cookies,” and even complex phrases like “what is my dog thinking” (don’t ask). In fact, despite initial skepticism, Atlas this feature might actually be faster than the iPhone’s onscreen keyboard for complex phrases. Add to this well-oiled functionality the fact that search results are displayed in an iPhone-optimized format, and the app’s access to other time-saving features, Google’s iPhone offering might prove to be pretty useful.

Download the application through iTunes App Store.