It'd automatically pop up traffic and total travel time info whenever you were likely to be headed to work, too, or any other frequently visited destination (the sandwich shop, your local platypus polishing professional, etc).Īnd all of that was just the start.The service would monitor your Google Calendar for you and let you know when you needed to leave for an upcoming appointment in order to make it on time, based on both your current location and the latest traffic conditions.If you searched for a business on any device where you were signed in, Google Now would pull up a card on your phone with a map to that business, an estimate of how long it'd take you to get there, and a one-tap option to navigate any ol' way your heart desired.As the flight's status evolved, Google Now would continue to keep you updated. If you searched for a flight on your computer, it'd have a card waiting for you on your phone with the latest status of that flight and a one-tap option to navigate to the appropriate airport when the time arrived.

So what sort of stuff would Google Now give you in that pre-Pixel period? Well, let's see: (Google, naturally, killed that off eventually, too.) At one point, there was even a standalone Google Now Launcher that anyone could install to bring the fully Googlefied home screen setup onto any Android phone, no matter who made it.

Google Now, in case you weren't around in those days or maybe just ingested a few too many memory-blurring substances in the years since, was a panel that'd pop up as part of the main Android home screen. Google Now 2.0: From Jelly Bean to Pixelīefore we can get to the present, we have to catch up on the past. Believe you me, though: You wouldn't want to do that. And in typical fashion, Google doesn't seem to be doing much of anything to promote it or make average phone-owning schmoes aware of its existence.īlink, in fact, and you might miss it entirely - or fail to recognize its familiarity and the step-saving brilliance it can bring into your life. It isn't being made available across all of Android, either - only for us Pixel-carryin' folk, at least as of this moment. Google Now is on the brink of an explosive comeback - but this time, it isn't being called Google Now.

Well, my Google-gawking gaggle, have I got good news for you.

Bunny pop-up from bushes card