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Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

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Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#161

Post by hmottestad »

GilbertErik wrote: post #140
lucian1900 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could maybe change it to be the same as your home address.

Having tried that myself, I discovered your suggestion causes Google Now to go a little cuckoo. It spent a week trying to suggest that I work at our local grocery store because I went there one morning for coffee, milk, and lunch ingredients. Then when I met up with some associates at a coworking spot, it tried recommending that I drive home to the grocery store. :-?

Brilliant.

I recommend a real, living, breathing assistant for you then. You can hire one cheap online from India.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#162

Post by kailuowang »

jervisfm wrote: post #157
cheald wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What device are you using? I just checked on my phone and I didn't see a tab for recent searches available. What I found though were starred places. I like the ability to be able to see my search history. How can you get to that from the navigation app ?

I am using 4.2.2. Click the navigation icon at the bottom and the direction page shows up and then the recent search history menu automatically popup underneath the end point input. If you doesn't, you can click the start point and then click the end point again, it might take a bit depending on your connection speed.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#163

Post by jweese »

prawks wrote: post #146
timroman wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, I find it kind of annoying, a notification for every restaurant, city, country, etc that I look up and have absolutely zero intention of traveling to. It has potential to be useful, but it needs to get smarter first. Maybe I spend too much time searching Maps randomly.

Probably. It would have to make a lot of assumptions to infer your intention when searching, at least in Maps, etc. current form. A browser plugin to enable/disable Now tracking seems like it could be handy, however. Though then if you forget to turn it back on you lose what eitally mentioned: "I forgot X, oh, thankfully Now caught it". But doesn't Google Maps have a history feature that syncs across devices? Now see…

> A browser plugin to enable/disable Now tracking seems like it could be handy, however.

I've gotten into the habit of using incognito mode for most searches, and only staying logged in for things I think I'll want Now-based information for, like directions or information cards.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#167

Post by smith7018 »

lucian1900 wrote: post #152
smith7018 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has used all three major platforms extensively, I think I could shed some light on this. iOS has the "absolute best apps" because of the level of polish, design, and near-pixel-perfect elements visible in the apps. I've used Android for years (SGS2 and Nexus 7) and many of the apps are poorly designed and have even poorer implementations. Many of them feel like they are just 5 standard UI widgets put t…

What you describe is precisely the sort of thing I dislike in mobile apps. On a (non-Windows) desktop, no one would dare do such crazy, confusing things.

These "crazy, confusing things" these mobile app devs are trying are expanding the way we use applications. Making apps gesture-based has lead Google Maps (for iOS), Clear, and even Facebook (swipe down closes image) to have much more intuitive UIs. I'm much happier that developers are experimenting with improved UX experiences rather than just trusting the designs Google or Apple decided on.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#168

Post by treeface »

kailuowang wrote: post #159
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've been using the Google map's star feature for this type of address transferring - star a location on PC and it will show up on your phone in seconds, you just need to unstar it later if it's not an address you want your map to remember.

I don't even need to star anything. If I type an address into maps.google.com on my PC, as long as I'm signed into Google it will be in my Maps app search history.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#169

Post by cheald »

jervisfm wrote: post #157
cheald wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What device are you using? I just checked on my phone and I didn't see a tab for recent searches available. What I found though were starred places. I like the ability to be able to see my search history. How can you get to that from the navigation app ?

Nexus 4 running a CM 10.1 nightly. If you open Maps, click the "Directions" button (not nav, sorry), then it'll ask you what you want directions to, and your recent searches will be there.

Re: Google Now on your iPhone and iPad

#170

Post by adlpz »

pspeter3 wrote: post #12
adlpz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It used to be an useless time to commute by car to home (and I used to take the train) and the weather thing. Until I went on vacation to Germany and it started popping places to see, German translating widgets and other goodness. Not that useful still, but I believe it can grow into something really useful and quick.

You can change the commute mode from driving to public transportation

As it's been said before, that works just on some locations. For the vast majority of the world (like in, geographically), Google Now is not that accurate or useful.
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