Google Now

Google Now was a feature of Google Search of the Google app for Android and iOS. Google Now proactively delivered information to users to predict (based on search habits and other factors) information they might need in the form of informational cards. Google Now branding is no longer used, but the functionality continues in the Google app and its discover tab. Google first included Google Now in Android 4.1 ("Jelly Bean"), which launched on July 9, 2012, and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone was first to support it. The service became available for iOS on April 29, 2013, without most of its features. In 2014, Google added Now cards to the notification center in ChromeOS and in the Chrome browser. Later, however, they removed the notification center entirely from Chrome. Popular Science named Google Now the "Innovation of the Year" for 2012. Since 2015, Google gradually phased out reference to "Google Now" in the Google app, largely removing the remaining use of "Now" in October 2016, including replacing Now cards with Feed. At Google I/O 2016, Google showcased its new intelligent personal assistant Google Assistant, in some ways an evolution of Google Now. Unlike Google Now, however, Assistant can engage in a two-way dialogue with the user.