Google Now, for the uninitiated, is much, much more than a voice-search utility. You can use it to make your life easier in general by supercharging and automating your daily tasks. Google Now will let you do a lot of things, from emailing your boss and checking the weather to finding the best route to work and even calculating the square root of infinity! Best of all, Google Now is completely free to use, and it can’t complain like a human assistant would. If you happen to own an iPhone and don’t like Siri, you can download Google Now from the iTunes store.
Here are 5 of the best Google Now features that will change the way you search on the internet:
Search for the Answers to Some of Life’s Mysteries
Google Now, at the moment, won’t tell you why you were born, but it will more than satisfy your penchant for trivia. If you ever wondered how rich Bill Gates is, for example, try asking Google Now: “How much is Bill Gates worth?” Google Now will also tell you how many calories are in that sandwich you’re eating, the newest movie Jennifer Aniston has starred in and the distance between the earth and the moon.
Access Photos, Music and Videos
You can ask Google Now to quickly bring up the photos of your favorite celebrities by saying: “Show me (insert name here)”. Google Now will also play your favorite music, whether it’s present on your device or not (if not, through Spotify). Just say: “Ok Google, play In the End by Linkin Park”. Google Now will also identify any song playing on the radio you like. Hold your phone over it and ask: “Ok Google, which song is this?” Just like music, you can use Google Now to play videos too.
Get Help with Your Homework
Google Now doesn’t promise to help you do better on your exams, but it will help you with your homework. You can use it to perform complex mathematical operations (“Ok Google, what is 4220 divided by 321”) and to find more information about scientific and historical topics.
Communicate Faster with Family and Friends
Google Now lets you set relationships to your family and friends. For example, if you say: “Lily (in your Contacts) is my girlfriend”, Google Now will remember. The next time you want to text Lily, you can simple say: “Ok Google, text my girlfriend”. Google Now will let you email your boss and call your mother too, faster than you could do it yourself. It will also remind you to email your boss and call your mother, if you want it to.
Search for the Fastest Routes during the Best Weather
Google Now will help you find the best route to where you’re going with the help of Google Maps, if you’re traveling by car, and help you find a good parking spot too. It will also help you book flights, get you a boarding pass, print tickets, find a nearby hotel and even help you convert currency abroad. You can also learn more about the weather on the day of your journey by asking it: “What’s the weather going to be like on Saturday?”
We hope these tips help you get the most out of Google Now. Google keeps adding outrageously good features to Google Now regularly, so expect it to become even better with future updates.
