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Why Google Now on Tap is Android’s ‘nuclear weapon’ against the iPhone

Published Oct 6th, 2015 4:10PM EDT
Android 6.0 Marshmallow Google Now On Tap

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The best thing about Android is also the worst thing about Android — namely, the software is very good at predicting your needs, although it does this by relentlessly collecting information about you. If you’re cool with Google having so much information about you at its disposal, however, you’ll really love what it’s done with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, particularly the new Google Now on Tap feature.

RELATED: It sounds like Android 6.0 Marshmallow delivers on one of Google’s key promises

The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern has written up a review of Google Now on Tap where she explains that it’s really Google’s “nuclear weapon” in its war with the iPhone.

“It brings together so many of Google’s talents, including crowd-sourced intelligence, that it’s hard to imagine how Apple could match it,” she writes in her review.

What’s so impressive about the new version of Google Now is the way that it recognizes context for just about everything you do on your phone. So for instance, if someone sends you a text message that contains an address and a time, Google Now on Tap will prompt you to use that information to create a calendar appointment. It also works beautifully with Google’s traditional search functionality, Stern found.

“I became addicted to those tricks and more. While reading an article about Hillary Clinton’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ appearance, it suggested more information about Clinton, including shortcuts to her Twitter and Instagram accounts, and links to see more about her surprise cameo,” she writes. “On that same article, I also held down the microphone icon and asked, ‘How old is she now?’ Knowing who ‘she’ meant, Google quickly responded, ‘Hillary Clinton is 67.’ Similar tricks work in third-party apps including Spotify, Twitter and Facebook.”

Check out Stern’s full review of Google Now on Tap by clicking here.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.