In previous versions, the function needed a condition with input range like countif(col(A), "col(A)>10"). Now it has been made simpler and the input can be written as countif(col(A), ">10"). It’s also supported for other if functions including Sumif, Averageif, Maxifs, Minifs.

countif(col(A), "boston")=;
countif(A, 2)=;
countif(A, "!=2")=;