Google Now on Tap Is Cool, but Not so Useful Yet
Google’s new Now On Tap feature was one of the coolest new Android Marshmallow features. Now that it’s out, we decided to spin it around and see how it works. Result: Google still has a long way to go.
Now On Tap was first announced at Google I / O earlier this year . The idea is pretty cool: with the click of a button, you can bring Google to your screen to intelligently figure out what information you need or want to do. However, after using for just over a week, it looks like it still needs some tweaking.
Now on the tap promise
When you activate Now On Tap by long pressing the Home button, Google will take a quick snapshot of what’s on your screen and scan it for any text it thinks you might learn more about. He will then offer a list of cards with any relevant results. The idea is that instead of closing the application and looking for something, you can just say “What is this?” and get an answer.
For example, this week my girlfriend sent me a message on Facebook inviting me to an early viewing of Crimson Peak. I opened Now On Tap and he realized Crimson Peak was a movie, and he offered me links to the movie page on IMDb, a trailer on YouTube, and suggested several google searches that I could follow, including news, actors or images. … I could also do a basic Google search.
Now On Tap also tries to make reasonable suggestions based on the context of your conversation. For example, if you receive an email that says, “Would you like to have lunch next Thursday?” Now On Tap may prompt you to create a calendar event for that date.
Finally, when you use Now On Tap, you can use the familiar “Ok Google” command to do deeper searches. In some cases, Now On Tap may even recognize what has been scanned and take that into account when searching. For example, if you are playing a song on Spotify and using Now On Tap, you might ask Google, “Who is the lead singer?” Now On Tap will infer that you are asking who the lead singer of the band you were listening to and will show you the corresponding results.
Reality Now On Tap
Now On Tap sounds amazing on paper. In practice, this seems to be useful only on rare occasions. It was pretty good at recognizing anything that you could get typical KNM maps for . This includes (but is not limited to) movies, groups, politicians, diseases, places, or companies. Once Now On Tap recognizes the correct name for something, you can jump to multiple searches or apps at once.
The big problem I’ve found is that you don’t know what information you get as you navigate to different applications. If you check Now On Tap for a movie and click YouTube, you will be redirected to the trailer, but if you want to find another video related to that movie, you will have to do it manually. Clicking on IMDb will take you to the movie page, but you cannot go to the session scheduling section of the IMDb application . Doing a Google search will show the session schedule, but you have to remember that Google will do it. The label just says “Google”. Even though I had IMDb, Flixster, and the AMC app installed on my device, none of the Now On Tap links indicated where or even if I could find the session schedule.
It would be less annoying if Now On Tap had some of the awesome smart mojo that Google Now has . Unfortunately, there is very little other than looking up the names of the things you can do. If you or someone you are talking to suggests holding an event at a specific time, sometimes you may receive a card asking you to add an event to your calendar. I was also able to activate a card one day that asked if I wanted to add a reminder when I received a message that said, “Don’t forget to go to the post office tomorrow!” However, the reminder cards seemed very inconsistent.
It’s also difficult to know exactly when a particular phrase or context will trigger a flashcard from Now On Tap. I copied the same post office message to Google Keep and tried to activate Now On Tap. In this context, Google did not interpret this as something that I might need to be reminded of and ignored it. So, obviously, there is more going on than simple text analysis.
This may sound like nitpicking, but if Now On Tap doesn’t offer certain cards reliably, it starts to feel like a waste of time. One day I received the following message:
PS, the crimson offensive peak tonight at 7 at the Atlantic station.
This included the title of the movie, date, time and place. Naturally, when I activated Now On Tap, I expected to be able to set a calendar event (although a reminder would have been preferable). Instead, activating Now On Tap only showed me information about Crimson Peak and directions to the Atlantic Station. At that time, neither one nor the other helped. The directions might be useful later, but by then it was easier to just go straight to Google Maps rather than flipping through your message history to get to the Now On Tap shortcut.
Google also didn’t detail what tasks you can accomplish with Now On Tap. The first time you use the quick start guide shows you can get directions to places, create events on your calendar, view restaurant reviews if a person names a restaurant, or search for information about a musician. Setting reminders is not even mentioned, and I only accidentally discovered it while writing this article.
Now On Tap is a good start, but it’s not there yet.
I think if this feature were called Google On Tap, it might seem more appropriate. Google Now has many features that provide you with information and do something for you even before you ask. The “now” in Google Now has come to denote the intelligent tasks performed by the virtual assistant. When I first started using Now On Tap, I expected it to be just as smart at recognizing what I was doing.
Instead, Now On Tap is really good at spotting a few keywords here and there. It’s nice to save you a couple of taps when you want to see thetrailer for The Martian again, but if you want to find out the session schedule and add it to your calendar, Now On Tap can’t help you much. Even adding a permanent “Remind me about this later” or “Add to my calendar” button would make it more useful, but the unpredictable cards make using it a sheer guess.
Ultimately, this is the main disadvantage of Now On Tap right now. Since you can’t know what cards you’ll get, when you’ll use them (assuming you get them at all), or what the labels do, when you get them, you’re at risk. It might be a useful shortcut, or it might be a waste of your time. If Now On Tap was more likely to result in useful information or action, it might be more persuasive, but right now, you’re essentially flipping a coin to decide if you’re going to waste your time.