Google Now is a service designed to provide you information Google thinks you’ll want, when Google thinks you’ll want it. For instance if receive an email confirmation for an upcoming flight, Google Now will know that and send you a reminder when it’s time to leave for the airport.
You can also pull up Google Now manually on supported devices to see a series of cards with things like nearby attractions, sports scores, weather forecasts, TV schedules, and other information Google thinks you may want to know based on what the company knows about you.
Starting with Android M, Google Now is about to get a lot more powerful.
The company has unveiled a new feature called Google Now on Tap. From just about any screen on your Android phone, you’ll be able to tap and hold the home button to bring up Google Now for relevant information and recommendations.
Google gave a few examples at the Google IO 2015 developer conference:
- Tap and hold when viewing an email asking if you want to go see a movie, and get information about that movie including IMDB data, trailers, and more.
- Listen to a song by Skrillex, ask Google “what’s his real name” and get an answer without actually saying “Skrillex.”
- While having a conversation in a chat app about restaurants and/or dry cleaning, Now on Tap can automatically create a reminder to pick up the dry cleaning, and bring up info about the restaurant (including directions, Yelp reviews, and an option to call the restaurant).