In its continued effort to twist iOS further and further into an image resembling its own, Google has just announced the arrival of its Google Now information service for iPhone and iPad.
The former Android-only feature is now an integral part of the Google Search app for iOS and sees the distinctive card system appearing at on Apple’s popular iOS tablets and phones. Swiping up reveals the same Now interface Android users have already grown to know and love and it totes many of the same smart information services too.
iOS-based Google Now users will be able to see flight information, sports scores, upcoming appointments and suggested routes to and from work or home as well as stats from any of the 18 other card types on offer from this new Apple-flavoured version of Now. The Verge spoke to Google Now’s Director of Product Management – Baris Gultekin who stated, “The types of Google Now cards available are largely the same on both platforms.”
As you’d expect the interaction with Now is a little different on your iPhone as opposed to your Nexus 4, with the no option to launch Now from outside the Google Search application. Although the majority of the functionality is confined to within the walls of Search, Google has confirmed that any cards that utilise the device’s location services can do so in the background, meaning now waiting around for a location-related card to search over GPS.
Google’s continued efforts to have its services on as many devices as possible has yet to truly rattle Apple, despite the fact that the search giant anticipates that more and more iOS users may rely more heavily on Google’s (predominantly free) cloud services over Apple’s and instead simply approach the Cupertino-based company for its hardware.
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