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Google Now for iOS is finally here. No surprise, it’s well done and lovely. But why no Push Notifications?

Google Now for iOS Coming Soon?

Yep.

(Though I thought it was going to be a part of the Chrome iOS app. Or at least the Google Search app. But I’m all in favor of giving Now its own app — one of my favorite things out of Google in recent years.)

Update: It actually does look like it’s a part of the Google Search app in the video. And my understanding is that this is how it will work (coming up from the bottom). I still wouldn’t rule it out in Chrome down the road either.

I randomly said “What?” into Google on the Nexus 4. This was the first result. Perfect.

There's No Avoiding Google+

I’m going to break my rule of not linking to The Wall Street Journal because it’s 2013 and I’m in the forgiving mood. Also, because I find this story by Amir Efrati sort of fascinating.

The article really doesn’t say much, but what I find interesting is how far it goes out of its way not to plainly state the obvious: Google+ is a turd.

I’m not sure why everyone seems afraid to admit this. I think it’s similar to the reason why some seem reluctant to call Windows 8 a turd when it’s already abundantly clear: people are scared that such a bold statement could come back to bite them in the ass. But it won’t. Both are clearly turds.

Google continues to try to cram Google+ down people’s throats, but it just won’t stay down. People are gonna keep puking it right back up. The only compelling feature of Google+ is Hangouts; everything else is a carbon copy of some social activity that people can (and already do) do elsewhere. Google simply made a bad call and started chasing the wrong thing (social) far too late.

If you talk to a number of people inside Google and even those formerly inside the Google+ team, you get the same refrain: it’s just not working. I have over 1.5 million followers and actively share the same posts to Google+ that I share on Twitter and Facebook and even though I have a tiny fraction of the following on those networks, the engagement is night and day.

I wonder how long it will take Google to admit defeat here? I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of the shoving of Google+ in our faces first — Chrome, you’re next. But I really wish Google would take all the energy being put behind this dog and use it to blow out their truly interesting and innovative products, like Google Now.

Google finds its design voice on iOS

Great overview by Matthew Panzarino of The Next Web on just how far Google has come with regard to the design of their iOS apps.

Previously, a number of their apps were definitely amongst the worst popular apps on the platform. Now, I’d only count the ones that haven’t been updated to the new design aesthetic — namely Google Voice — in that camp. And the newest ones built from scratch, like Google Maps and YouTube Capture, are very well done.

But while the updated apps certainly look better, performance is still an issue. Gmail, in particular, sucks. There has been a bad bug resulting in the same email being sent twice. In general, the app is way too slow in every regard. Things are constantly refreshing. The only thing that makes it look good to some people is that the actual web app is so much worse.

Still, no doubt things are getting much better. Kudos to Google. I can’t wait for that Google Now iOS app (though perhaps it will be a part of an updated version of the regular old Google app?).

Google Now For Chrome

Good find by Cnet’s Stephen Shankland:

It looks like Chrome users, not just Android users, will get access to Google Now, the search giant’s technology for bringing weather reports, trip departure reminders, birthday alerts, nearby restaurant reviews, and more to the attention of Android users.

Google Now is one of the few recent Google software projects I’m legitimately excited about. It’s very well done and seemingly getting better by the day.

google now