Google Now Just Updated its Android App for the Better

In a big announcement made by the company this Friday, Google Now shared that it is going to update its app soon with a backing to support 40 third-party apps.

Launched back in 2012, Google Now renders personalized search results, by using ‘cards’ that are mechanically dependent on the former actions of a user. To cite an example, while you leave for home from your office, the smart app could flash a Google Now card alerting you against an accident likely to happen on your way back home and present an alternate route instead by using Google Maps. However, these cards largely relied on Google’s own services such as Maps, Calendar, Gmail, Search and the likes. Going by the latest update, changes to the existing app along with integration with some third-party apps, including Ford, Lyft, eBay, Pandora and others, will be made. The notifications will only surface if a user has installed on his or her device both the Google app as well as the relevant third-party app.

The update is certainly expected to have interesting implications for Android Wear, which is the wearables platform of Google and features smartwatches such as the Moto 360 and others. The smart Google Now cards are there on Android Wear devices already but not with the addition of third-party apps. That addition will be made now after the update will been made available. These third-party apps, specifically the ones that are sparked off by location, are expected to make the feature even more useful. For example, if you fly to a new place, you might want to use the Google Now card for calling a Lyft. Such a convenience will certainly help make the Android Wear more useful and competitive.

Google Now will be updated in some weeks from now as confirmed by the company. However, it is still not clear whether the iOS app of Google will be updated with such a feature.