Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

googleblog.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 231 posts

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#111

Post by moskie »

driverdan wrote: post #93

After listening to friends rave about Now and reading so many positive comments online I really wanted to like it. I've been using it for a few months and my experience is significantly worse than what others have reported. It always seems to show me notifications for the wrong information at the wrong time. Take directions. I work at a coworking space 4 miles from my home. The hours I'm there vary. Now seems to try…

> I work at a coworking space 4 miles from my home. The hours I'm there vary.

Followed by:

> Overall it just doesn't seem to understand my usage patterns.

It sounds like that's because there isn't a pattern, at least in the case of your commute. You should just configure it to not try to show you those directions.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#113

Post by rmrfrmrf »

mehta wrote: post #22
adlpz wrote: post #6

Well, I hate to admit it, because I am an ex-iOS user that ran away from it because of the closed ecosystem, but seeing that it keeps aggregating the absolute best applications, even from Google, and with the goodness everyone feels is coming from the Ive-influenced iOS 7, I might have to fall back into the walled garden. Apple is really good at this stuff.

Not sure what you mean by "absolute best applications" since the app on ios is fundamentally limited by the APIs that are provided by the OS. I agree that ios has some of the better apps but I don't think presence of Google Now on ios is better then that on Android.

If your definition of a great app is one that has unfettered access to your OS, uh... well, good for you, I guess.

Enjoy your MIDI-playing personal USB fan on your Android phone--I'll just be over here getting actual work done.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#114

Post by cheald »

eitally wrote: post #79

My favorite feature of Google Now is that when I've searched for a place/address in Chrome on a PC, it automatically pops up with proposed navigation in a card on my phone. That has saved me so many times from the "dammit, I can't remember the street number" while moving from house to car. p.s. This is one widget where allowing it to use the maximum space possible makes a lot of sense, especially when traveling inter…

I agree, but it's worth noting that you can go to Navigation and recent searches on your PC should appear in the dropdown list of places to choose from, so it's not Now-specific.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#115

Post by dsirijus »

sahaskatta wrote: post #99
driverdan wrote: post #93

After listening to friends rave about Now and reading so many positive comments online I really wanted to like it. I've been using it for a few months and my experience is significantly worse than what others have reported. It always seems to show me notifications for the wrong information at the wrong time. Take directions. I work at a coworking space 4 miles from my home. The hours I'm there vary. Now seems to try…

It doesn't work too well on the first day. Use it for a few days and it will begin to learn your habits.

He stated he used it for few months.

I've been using it even longer, and, aside of few "ok, cool" moments, it is completely unusable piece of software.

Deal breaker for me is - you can't rely on it as a weather app, you can't rely on it as reminder, as currency converter, and so on. Simply put, it's unreliable.

And a bit scary to boot, but I don't mind that, seeing how incompetent it is.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#116

Post by 51Cards »

driverdan wrote: post #93

After listening to friends rave about Now and reading so many positive comments online I really wanted to like it. I've been using it for a few months and my experience is significantly worse than what others have reported. It always seems to show me notifications for the wrong information at the wrong time. Take directions. I work at a coworking space 4 miles from my home. The hours I'm there vary. Now seems to try…

"... I don't need directions for a route I drive all the time."

It's not just about directions, it's about traffic as well. When it maps a regular drive for me it also factors in traffic delays.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#118

Post by ceejayoz »

hnriot wrote: post #92
blhack wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar "whoa" moment a couple of weeks ago. Google alerted me that I should leave for Santa Barbara "now". Which was really, really weird for me, since I was already halfway there (from Phoenix). Apparently, it had read through my emails, seen a receipt for sigur ros tickets from ticketmaster, figured out where I was, and already calculated how long it would take me to get there. That is insanely awesome .

How is it awesome that it told you to leave, when in fact you had already left? Shouldn't it have alerted you before you left?

I'd guess he left earlier than he strictly had to to make the specific appointment. The "leave now" is presumably just "if you want to be on-time", not "if you want to be on-time and do some antiquing and grab some lunch first".

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#119

Post by jes5199 »

DigitalJack wrote: post #64
mcintyre1994 wrote: post #62

Dammit Google, this is awesome, and genius, and pretty much obsoletes Siri, but why didn't you push this in the Android Google search app? I really want Now on my phone since it's awesome on my tablet, but I can't get Jellybean onto it.

I don't have Siri on my iphone (a 4), but I always thought the benefit was from composing text messages and such... This is just search isn't it?

Hmm. I only use Siri to play music by name.
Post reply on HN