Google Now for iOS

Robbo

Robbo

Robbo

Man of Honour
Joined
2 Jan 2009
Posts
62,880
Google Now comes to iPhone and iPad with new Search app update

After a promo video let the cat out of the bag last month, Google is making it official: with an update to the Google Search application, Google Now is available on iOS. Compatible with both the iPhone and iPad, the update brings almost all of Google's information cards across from Android. The look and feel of the app is virtually identical on both platforms, a testament to Google's newfound ability to make well-designed apps on iOS. The main differences between Android and iOS are few, mainly in that iOS can display fewer different kinds of cards. "The types of Google Now cards available are largely the same on both platforms," says Baris Gultekin, Director of Product Management for Google Now.

On iOS, the Google Search app can't be launched with a system-wide shortcut (unless you are a jailbreaker) and it can't do the same kind of background sync that Now can do on Android. However, Google tells us that it will support the iOS background location feature, so that at least it won't need to spend as long hunting for your position when you open up the Search app. It also won't use iOS' notification system to push high-priority Now alerts as you can do on Android. 22 of the 29 card types available on Android are making their way to iOS, and the few holdouts include airline boarding passes, Fandango, and local events. Google Now will be able to display your next available appointment, but it will only pull that information from your Google Calendar, not the local calendar.
Click to expand...

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/29/4275334/google-now-available-on-iphone-and-ipad

I found this pretty handy on my Android phones, hopefully it works well. :cool:
 
I tried it on the iPad, but I thought it performed Siri like functions (i.e. show me what films are on, etc that brought up a "card" with the details), but it seems to just be voice search with a couple of cards related to your Google account.
 
Give it time to "learn" about you and you will see it shine. A day's use isn't nearly enough to judge Now.
 
Id also rather get the job done with Siri even if it does find the data slower. Having to open Google Search to do it is a pain IMO. Unless you run a jailbroken phone with NowNow...
 
WuMyster said:
It seems to also keep locational services activated 24/7 even if its closed in the task bar
Click to expand...

How can we know this?

Are there any other apps that do this?

I had the google app and my phone has been dropping battery levels so fast recently (battery not even lasting a day) :( I've now deleted the app.

I just thought it was down to my poor reception at work.
 
Settings > Privacy > Location Services and then look for the purple arrow to see if its using it (it will be solid purple, not outlined, but there are descriptions of each at the bottom).
 
Go to google Now - Settings - Privacy - Location and turn off location reporting.

This will turn off location services when you close the app :-)
 
WuMyster said:
It seems to also keep locational services activated 24/7 even if its closed in the task bar
Click to expand...

This is the main reason most folk switch it off on android. It sucks a lot of battery life even though Now actually works very well once it learns our travel habits. For example when I used to use it, it would show me dodgy traffic jams for my route home and would always inform me of that 10mins before I was due to finish work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom