In the early years ( like 5 geezerhood ago tbh ) , iPhone and Android were at odds . close vs. open ; Design vs. customization . Now , those business are more muzzy than ever . But Android has always had one absolute ace , and Google I / type O 2015 just proved it : Google Now .
I do n’t really need to explain thatGoogle Now is greatand that it keeps gettingbetterandbetter — we’ve been beating that drum for awhile . But yesterday we learned just how great it could become , when Google walked through some of the new contextual updates to Android ’s powerful personal help , calledNow on Tap .
Imagine a wandering personal assistant that is just one long pat aside on the home key at any time . You ’re in an email that references a eating place . Taaaaap . Address , menu , hour , and more information in Yelp pops up immediately . Who ’s that weird pit up dude from Mad Max ? Oh , you intend Nicholas Hoult ? Here ’s all of his data plus a connectedness out to IMDb and Flixster . What the fuck is a Escargots de Bourgogne ? Let me pronounce it for you correctly and also offer up some recipes if you ’re concerned .
All with just a tap on the home plate button .
And as Google Now beat even good , once OS - defining feature film are beginning to disappear . After five years of “ me too ” engineering , iOS and Android are starting to sense pretty alike : With the iPhone 6 and iOS 8 , Apple lastly added NFC and third - party keyboards , which were long staple of Android . Andyesterday , we learned Android Mwill wear round on fingermark authentication , abetter water tap - to - pay service , and selective app permissions , all mainstays of iOS .
The two operating system are continuing to converge . Except for Google Now .
Gizmodo ’s Brent Rose spent some quality hands - on fourth dimension with the unexampled Google Now andwas pretty impressed . And we ’re not alone in this opinion — Apple knows it , too . It ’s why new hearsay say Cupertino is turn on its ownGoogle Now alternative for iOS 9 .
But even if Apple revamps its limelight feature into something more useful , access to Siri ’s API will probably be limited at first with no timeline for when developer will get full access . Microsoft ’s Cortana is also becoming more and more up to of course , but Microsoft seemsmore focused on spreading its AI gospel to all operating systemsandinternet - scour platformsinstead of focusing on really cryptical integration like Google Now .
It ’s worth name that these Now on Tap examples were just demos , seamster - made to execute without a duty tour . Who knows how well - baked these features will be once we get them in Android M this autumn . But with a minuscule promising optimism , it looks like the beginning of something great — and so far — unique to Android .
Google Now and Now on Tap are really just the greatest example of what continues to be Android ’s biggest differentiator from Apple : it ’s open ecosystem . Where other long - standing difference on the spec sheet disappear , Google Now is a permanent model of what makes Android , well , Android .
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