Google Now available for iPhone and iPad

Some of my favorite iOS apps come from Google, and today we see another excellent service appear for the iPhone and iPad, with Google Now (iTunes link) appearing in the Google Search app.

There is a growing list of functions that appear in Google Now, including weather information, local sports updates, traffic, appointments with location and directions, and much more. The Verge reported that 22 of 29 Android cards are supported on iOS. When you launch the Google Search app, you simply swipe up to switch into Google Now mode.

I enjoy using Google Now on my Android devices, and am pleased to see it now appearing on iOS. It is not as integrated as it is on Android due to Apple's application restrictions, but we'll probably see it worked into jailbroken iPhones soon. I just installed the Activator app on my jailbroken iPhone 5, so now I can long press on the Home button to launch Google Search with Google Now. Granted, we don't yet have background notifications like Android, but we are getting closer here.

You can now find fantastic Google services and apps like Google Now, Google+, and Google Maps all working well on iOS. Google understands that millions are not going to buy Android devices, so it is being smart about making sure it has its products on iOS and Android both, and as a multi-platform user, I appreciate this work.

Thanks to The Verge for the heads-up on the release for iOS.