Google makes Now smarter and provides contextual information in apps

Google has announced improvements to its voice and information service Now. The software will be able to interpret the content on the screen and offer relevant options and information based on that.

At I/O, Google introduced the enhancements for Now called “Now on Tap.” With a long press on the home button, context-dependent options are provided that are provided by Google’s information service. Questions can also be asked where Now looks at the content currently on the screen. A demonstration was given with the music player: The demonstration asked the question “what is his real name?” to a Skrillex song. The software managed to interpret this correctly and replied with the musician’s real name.

According to Google, Now does its best to provide relevant options with a long press on the home button. A lot has been invested in machine learning in recent years, so that the system understands better what the user is doing. An e-mail message was taken as an example in which a movie was discussed. With a ‘tap’ the user can see detailed information about the said film.

The new features in Now appear with the release of Android M, also presented at I/O. Google announced that more information will be provided about Now in the coming months. However, the internet giant already wanted to reveal that the software works in every app and that developers do not have to modify their software.