Test Driving Google Now

Google Now recently became available on iOS via an updated Google search app, so one morning I took it for a test drive. Nothing fancy, app defaults taken, minimal customization, and a daily commute to work.

Here’s what Google Now presented to me.

Pretty mundane. Nothing out of the ordinary. Let’s compare the weather. Google Now reports 75-degree weather with some clouds and rain.

Car reported outside temperature was 76 degrees, and it was an overcast morning, so that’s a +1 for Google Now. How about the commute? 26 minutes seems about right with light traffic, but even Google doesn’t know and can’t integrate everything (yet). You see, there was a traffic accident reported on the H3 that morning. I had heard about the mishap on the radio at the start of my drive and was hoping the accident would be cleared by the time I got to the H3. Not quite.

There were lines of cars before the H3 Harano tunnels with one lane closed off. Fortunately traffic was flowing, albeit slowly compared to most mornings. Was this “light traffic” according to Google? From my daily commutes, I would consider this heavy traffic for the H3. So my commute did take longer than normal, quite possibly the 26 minutes estimated by Google Now from the starting point of traffic slowdown.

My overall first experience with Google Now wasn’t totally amazing but modestly intriguing. I can see how this intersection of relevant data is very cool and convenient, and I have to tinker with Google Now settings to see what else it can do.