Google Now Comes To iPhone and iPad in iOS Search Update

Google Now is now available on iPhone and iPad after the search giant updated its iOS application to include some of the functionality already available on Android smartphones.

Google Now was first released on Android last year and is featured on the majority of recent smartphones running the platform. The service displays information such as weather, real time traffic data, news and restaurant recommendations in the form of cards, which are selected by users.

Obviously, the iOS version of Google Now is not integrated into the operating system, although it should replicate most of the features of the Android service once the app has been launched.

Google Now iOS

“Today, with the launch of Google Now on iPhone and iPad, your smartphone will become even smarter,” said Google, announcing the update. The new app will compete with Apple’s voice recognition software Siri, which is seen as a threat to Google as it bypasses its search engine when returning results.

Apple is apparently keen to reduce its dependency on Google given the heated battle between the two companies in the smartphone arena and replaced Google Maps as the default mapping provider for iOS 6 with its own offering, Apple Maps.

This backfired spectacularly as Apple Maps was widely panned by users, who found it less detailed and littered with inaccuracies, causing CEO Tim Cook to take the unprecedented step of apologising for its inadequacies.

In contrast, Google has been looking to expand its influence on iOS and released an official Google Maps app in December as it seeks to increase the visibility of its advertising platform, which generates the majority of its revenue.

It has been suggested that a version of Google Now is being developed for desktops, but Google has not revealed any information about any such project.

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