Google Now is about to get much, much smarter once Android M is here. The company has just showcased – at the ongoing Google I/O event – what Google Now will be capable of in the next iteration of Android. It will be focused on three aspects: context, answers, and actions. Now on Tap is also a very interesting new feature.
In the aspect of “context”, Google Now can “understand” what is it that you want to look for. For example – and this is an example that the company itself demonstrated – a user was listening to Skrillex. All the user had to do was to say “okay Google, what is his real name?” And Google Now will know that the user is searching for Skrillex’s real name. That’s what context is all about for Google Now.
As for “answers”, this is where Now on Tap comes into play. Say you got an email from someone about watching a movie that you have never heard of before. All you have to do is just tap and hold the home button and relevant information on the movie will come up. That’s magic right there. (Okay, maybe not).
Google explained in a blog post that this feature “gives you options that are a best guess of what might be helpful to you in the moment.” Hence, it’s possible that this will not work 100% of the time. Nonetheless, it’s a very useful feature. What makes it even better is the fact that this will work on any app; developers don’t have to do a thing to make it work.
Finally, we have “actions”. This is pretty much a combination of the previous two aspects. Google explained how this can be applied in an SMS conversation. A husband is asking his wife if she would like to have dinner at a restaurant and asked her to pick up the laundry. With a tap and hold of the home screen, information on the restaurant pops up along with a “add reminder” button to pick up the laundry; hence, action.
These features will definitely make life easier for many Android users – although it may seem a little creepy how smart Google Now will be in Android M. In any case, this is a fantastic time to be an Android user; assuming it works as advertised.
