11. A method of operating a search system, the method comprising: provisioning a device to execute a copy of a selected mobile application; extracting content and metadata from a plurality of states of the copy of the selected mobile application executing on the device; identifying search input states within the plurality of states based on a first set of heuristics, wherein the first set of heuristics includes recognition of user-visible search indicia and recognition of metadata that correlates with search functionality; identifying, for each of the search input states, necessary input parameters; storing a record for each identified search function in the selected mobile application, wherein each record includes: a path to reach a search input state of the corresponding search function, an indication of input parameters required to be supplied to the corresponding search function, and a mapping of the input parameters to user interface widgets of the search input state; and in response to a query, (i) selectively performing the search function in the selected mobile application using parameters specified by the query, and (ii) scraping content from a resulting search results state.
11. A method of operating a search system, the method comprising: provisioning a device to execute a copy of a selected mobile application; extracting content and metadata from a plurality of states of the copy of the selected mobile application executing on the device; identifying search input states within the plurality of states based on a first set of heuristics, wherein the first set of heuristics includes recognition of user-visible search indicia and recognition of metadata that correlates with search functionality; identifying, for each of the search input states, necessary input parameters; storing a record for each identified search function in the selected mobile application, wherein each record includes: a path to reach a search input state of the corresponding search function, an indication of input parameters required to be supplied to the corresponding search function, and a mapping of the input parameters to user interface widgets of the search input state; and in response to a query, (i) selectively performing the search function in the selected mobile application using parameters specified by the query, and (ii) scraping content from a resulting search results state. 16. The method of claim 11 further comprising: randomly selecting user interface elements within the selected mobile application for actuation; and extracting content and metadata from each state encountered as a result of the actuation of the randomly-selected user interface elements.