Google has updated its Google app for Android last Dec. 6 and it is also heading to the iOS platform in a few days as part of an agressive goal to push itself as the main hub of our digital lives.
The update indicates that the tech company no longer wants to be the go to search destination in the mobile screen as it now classifies important information in order to better suit specific user requirements.
Use Google More
In an official statement, Google explained that the update will help users better organize their lives. The change now divides the previous Google Now interface into two: the news feed and the Upcoming section.
"The feed is an ongoing and updated look at the things you care about, keeping you updated with the freshest info on your sports teams, people of interest, music, and news stories," Google explained in an official statement. "The more you use Google, the more tailored and relevant your feed will become."
The Upcoming section, on the other hand, provides more specific and more important information relevant to the user. These include callendar appointments, package delivery details, boarding passes, reminders, and so forth. These data are culled from related Google applications such as Gmail, Maps, Calendar and Chrome, among others.
"With the holiday travel season upon us, you'll never need to dig through your email to find your boarding pass or flight info," Google said.
Interface Organization
Personalized information such as boarding passes and calendar appointments has already been integrated into the Google app in the past. The update, however, essentially gave it more system to separate information for easy access.
Some observers found it interesting that Google decided to use the news feed as the default screen for the app. This could have been motivated by the fact that it is more dynamic as it provides fresh daily information that will keep the user consistently engaged. Still, the update also prominently displays a Suggestion section, which appears to collect the most relevant information pulled from both news feed and Upcoming sections.
The app is best demonstrated in a Pixel smartphone and if you don't have one, you can now snag an unlocked version in a number of retailers.
How To Customize The Google App
As was the convention before, the news feed can be customized according to a user's preference. For example, one can populate it with news about Donald Trump, stocks or the latest gizmos and gadgets. This can be done by toggling options in the app's settings menu.
Customizing the setting is important in order to take advantage of the Google app's new features. Failing to do so will only lead the app to draw insights from the web browsing activities.
As Google promised, the app will get better over time especially if one uses it often. The company is also poised to give it a new feature that will show a card right within the feed where the user can select topics that are of interest. This purportedly will help the system provide relevant information right from the get-go, benefitting users who are only starting to interact with the app.
