Googles new Now On Tap feature was easily one of the coolest new features of Android Marshmallow.
Now that its out, we decided to give it a whirl and see how it worked.
The result: Google still has a long way to go.
Now On Tap was first announcedat Google I/O earlier this year.
Then, it will offer up a list of cards with any relevant results.
and get an answer.
I could also perform a regular Google search.
Now On Tap also tries to make smart suggestions for based on the context of your conversation.
For example, if you receive an email that says Would you like to have dinner next Thursday?
Now On Tap might suggest creating a calendar event for that date.
The Reality of Now On Tap
On paper, Now On Tap sounds amazing.
In practice it only seems to be useful in a few, rare circumstances.
It was pretty good about recognizing anything that you could gettypical Knowledge Graph cardsfor.
The big problem I found is that you dont reallyknowwhat information youre getting by jumping to different apps.
Performing a Google search would display showtimes, but you have to remember that Google will do this.
The shortcut just says Google.
This would be less annoying if Now On Tap had some of the awesome intelligent mojothat Google Now has.
However, reminder cards seemed very inconsistent.
I copied the exact same message about the post office into Google Keep and tried activating Now On Tap.
So, clearly something beyond mere text analysis is happening.
Instead, activating Now On Tap only showed me information about Crimson Peak, and directions to Atlantic Station.
Neither was helpful at that time.
Setting reminders isnt even mentioned and I only accidentally discovered it while writing this article.
Google Now hasa ton of featuresthat bring you information and do things for you before you even ask.
The Now in Google Now has come to mean intelligent tasks done by a virtual assistant.
Instead, Now On Tap is only really good at detecting a few keywords here and there.
Ultimately, thats the major flaw with Now On Tap right now.
Maybe it will be a useful shortcut, or it might be a waste of your time.
