Google Announces Support For 40 Third-Party App Cards In Google Now
by Brandon Chester on January 30, 2015 3:14 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Android
- Mobile
- Tablets
Google Now has always been good at giving you relevant information about things like transit, emails, stocks, sport scores, etc. But everything it displays is linked to a Google product in some way, which means that even with Google's vast accessible information, the scope of what information Google Now can provide is limited.
Today Google has announced an update for the Google application on Android. The update allows Google Now to display cards with relevant information from 40 different third party Android applications. The list of third party apps includes some big names like Lyft, Pandora, and Airbnb, and it's not hard to imagine how the ability to display relevant and actionable info in Google Now could make the experience of using these apps even better. The full list of partnered applications can be found here on the Google Now webpage, and you can see some example cards in the image above.
According to Google, the update to the core Google app on Android is rolling out now, and updates for cards from the developers Google has partnered with will be rolling out over the next few weeks. Google also intends to expand the library of supported third-party applications over time.
Source: Inside Search Blog
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nathanddrews - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
Nearly every complaint I had about Google Now just disappeared in one fell swoop.Stephen Barrett - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
sameshadowofthesun - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
I'm extremely happy to see that they're doing the obvious thing (opening Now to third-parties), but in a slow and deliberate manner.The last thing I want is some F2P game with yet another avenue to spam me.
Alexey291 - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
I've got a new one.I will now be spammed with ads instead of useful information. GREAT where can I sign up?
Nuno Simões - Friday, January 30, 2015 - link
Does anyone have this update yet? I'm interested in how it works with Duolingo.coburn_c - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Not an API, not even a join-able program, just the programs Google wants you to see.Alexvrb - Sunday, February 1, 2015 - link
Yeah should be an API. A limited API would be fine. Otherwise it just went from Google only to Google and Google-sanctioned only. Cortana has an API, there's no reason Google Now doesn't by now.wyewye - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Voice recognition has been a publicity stunt in the last 30 years and it will forever be the same.Its always going to be faster to do one tap on the weather app in 100ms than asking "Google now: how is the weather today?"
And they try to monetize it. My guess is quarter results pressure, "cost optimization".
blzd - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
Setting an appointment is much faster when using voice. In fact, I'm not even sure how to set an appointment manually as I've always used voice recognition for that. So there are certainly cases where it's faster, anything that takes more then 1 tap of course.Then there's all the hands free possibilities. Sending text while I'm driving etc.
You don't just mean the Hotword detection part do you? So saying "OK Google" instead of tapping the mic icon and using voice then? Because that I agree with, using a bunch of battery to say "OK Google" instead of making 1 tap doesn't make much sense to me unless it can be activated with the screen off ala Motorola for a true hands free experience and is supported by hardware for minimal battery drain.
Impulses - Saturday, January 31, 2015 - link
It works with the screen off on my Nexus 5 when plugged in (ideal for the car/desk), I thought they expanded those capabilities on newer Nexus... Dunno, I never used voice search much, been using it a bit more with my Moto 360 tho.