Google has turned its attention to updating the Google app with its Material Design and a couple of advanced features.
The big G has been updating its apps left, right, and centre with its new Lollipop-accented design language.
But while such staples as Google Maps and Gmail have received the Material Design treatment in recent months, the very search app that many would argue is at the core of the Google experience has been untouched.
Until now. The Google app is soon to receive an update on the Google Play Store, according to a recent Google blog post.
The company has started to roll out its new design language to the app, making search results “look a bit spiffier” with “bold colours, fluid animations and simplified layouts.”
You can already see this if you boot up the app in the new Nexus 6 or Nexus 9, but as is Google’s won’t in recent years, it’s bringing those changes to the independent app itself.
The new Google app is more than just a pretty face, however. It’s also gaining a couple of useful new features.
You can now get a new Google Now card type that reminds you of appointments, even if you didn’t remember to ask for a reminder. It achieves this by pulling out the relevant information from your Gmail, then asking if you want to be reminded of it nearer the time.
Perhaps more excitingly, the new Google app can also help you search your apps. The example given is that you could say “Ok Google, search Tumblr for ‘Things Organized Neatly,’” and you’d be taken right to the app.
Apps that are listed as supporting this feature at present beside Tumblr include TripAdvisor, TuneIn, Trulia and, to prove that it’s not all about the Ts, YouTube. But you’d expect that to be supported, wouldn’t you?
Oh, and you can also ask the new Google app to flip a virtual coin. Which is a bit silly.
The new Google app should be starting to roll out now, though there was no sign of the update on the UK Google Play Store at the time of writing.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
