Google Now is built into Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and above, and you can also now get it as a free iOS app (it’s part of the Google Search app). For heavy users of Google services it won’t be an issue, but anyone with privacy concerns is liable to think twice. This will involve some trust on your part.
You won’t get great results unless you set Google Now up with all the information it needs. When it works, Google Now can give you what you want before you even know you want it. Information is served up in the form of cards, which you can tap for more detail or swipe away to ignore.
News, sports scores, weather, and traffic information is served up in real time based on your previous movements and searches. If you let Google Now learn about you and your habits, then it can throw up information that it thinks you might be interested in. Sure, you can use it to set reminders to buy milk or have dinner with friends, and you can ask it basic questions about the weather tomorrow or who directed The Shining, but the real attraction lies in its abilities to preempt your desires and needs. It’s easy to describe it as Google’s version of Siri, but it’s actually a lot more ambitious than that. There’s been a fair bit of confusion about what Google Now really is.
