Google today released a major update to its Google Search app for iOS, implementing a multitude of new features to Google Now, its built-in personal assistant often compared to Apple's Siri.
With the update, Google Now has gained Notifications, Reminders, new cards that include tickets and boarding passes, and handsfree voice activation on the iPhone 4s and later. Voice searches and commands can be activated with the phrase "OK Google," which implements a search.
With notifications, Google Now can provide information on appointments and meetings. Reminders is a robust feature that works with standard reminders, such as "Remind me to buy coffee beans at Starbucks," and with requests that allow users to be notified when a favorite TV show has a new episode or a musician releases a new album.
In addition to the new Google Now capabilities, Google Search has also gained a simplified homepage, new zoom gestures, one touch sign in with other Google apps, and improved voiceover accessibility.
What's New in Version 3.1.0
Google Now gets even better with:
- Notifications - Get notified when it's time to go
- Reminders - Never forget to put out the trash
- New cards - See tickets, boarding passes, & more
- Handsfree voice - Just say "OK Google" to search*
*requires iPhone 4s or later
Google Search can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Top Rated Comments
Imagine Google Now being aware of the places you frequent and then one day Google decides that they are going to promote business socially by telling your friends which places you go frequently. Now imagine that they have their POI database wrong and they tell everybody how you frequent a Japanese Massage place when in fact the address you are going to is really a sandwich shop. Worse, imagine the place you are going is some place you really want to keep private. This is the kind of thing that Google and Facebook do with personal data when then need to expand their revenues.
Do you own any shopping club cards from grocery stores? Better ditch them, they monitor everything you buy from that store.
Do you own credit cards? Yep, they also monitor your purchases as well and sell that data.
What about TV, do you watch it? Better not, it knows where you are tuning in and you get location based commercials as a result.
Surf the net? Definitely better not...
I know and the old keyboard looks SOOOO much nicer.
I'm guessing it also still doesn't allow sending text messages or emails with voice dictation as apple has this under lock and key. I must speak really funny as it never works properly for me using Siri. :(
It's hard to make the iphone more productive with third party apps because it's so locked down.
You still can't even change the push notification sound for specific apps on ios.
It's too bad google screwed up sms intigration with hangouts and created two different threads for the same contact between hangout messages and sms. Had they been able to do it in the same thread like imessage I wouldn't have even thought twice about going back to an Android phone. I probably will anyway. Hopefully Google can correct this ASAP. Feels like a patent issue.
I want to know where this massage place is where I can have a sandwich immediately afterward.
When the Internet was simpler (ugh, makes me feel old), there was an alternative to gmail, or hotmail, etc. However, the rate of innovation at Google is making it almost impossible for anyone to catch up on the scale of services that they are providing.
With people like you and me choosing to opt-out of using useful features, it will make no difference-- sorry, that's just the truth. The dream of "if we all boycott it, they'll change" is dead because of the mass amount of new users they add daily. Our only hope is privacy legislation. Until that happens, we're screwed.