Google Now Integrates Data from 40 Third-party Apps: Lyft, Airbnb and Others

[RaduTyrsina]

Google Now is a search tool and digital assistant built into Android devices and the Chrome browser, and it comes included as part of the Google search app for iOS. Now Google has announced that it's rolling out a pretty big update to the service.

The digital assistant is now adding support for 40 third-party apps, including Pandora, Lyft, TripAdvisor, eBay and RunKeeper. At the moment, the feature is being made available for Android users only, but it will roll out to iPhone and iPad users in the future, as well. Here's what Google said:

Starting today, the Google app on Android can help you keep up with all the good stuff in 40 different apps at a glance—it’ll bring you Now cards to help you out with your day-to-day life, giving you information that’s helpful to you, right when you need it.

In the morning, catch up on news of the day with cards from The Guardian. On your commute, Pandora can give you recommendations for music to play, based on what you like, or you can be reminded to complete your daily French lesson on Duolingo. During your downtime, you can take care of the groceries, with a card from Instacart reminding you to stock up on the things you often order. If you’re planning a trip and looked up places to stay on your Airbnb app but couldn't make up your mind, you’ll see Now cards from Airbnb for the location and dates you’ve researched. And when you land at an airport, you’ll see a card to order a Lyft.

Google says it has collaborated with 30+ developers and that it plans to add more cards and expand this feature over time. More than two dozen new cards will roll out over the next few weeks, according to the company.

Source: Google