Google has announced that it would soon be opening its Google Now API to any app developers which are interested in integrating into the platform.
In early January this year, Google initiated a pilot program to allow 40 select apps and services to integrate with the company’s Google Now digital assistant, which is available on Android smartphones on tablets. At South By Southwest (SXSW) this weekend, the company announced that it would soon be opening its Google Now API to any app developers which are interested.
This will ultimately enable any app to present cards and information within Google Now, and sync information across any devices using the service. This includes not only smartphones and tablets, but alerts present in Google’s own internet browser, Chrome.
Previously, Google Now worked by only syncing information pertaining to Google apps and services – for example, the service would display relevant appointments set in Google Calendar, or reminders set inside the app.
Following the launch of the Google Now API, all apps on the Google Play Store will be able not only to share data through Now, but make use of Google Now’s Voice search functionality to instead allow a user to task content by speaking, instead of typing. This means that the coming move will see Google Now transition into a hub of activity across all Android devices or Chrome browsers, rather than simply acting as a monitor for all Google-approved information.
This means, however, that Google will likely need to refine the service’s pattern-learning behaviours to cope with a multitude of new sources and relevant information to display. Google Now presently works by monitor a user’s travel times, destinations, and browsing pattern, while also asking if suggested content is either applicable or relevant to the user.
Shazam, the popular music identification tool, was one of the few apps originally enabled to work with Google Now earlier this year, and shows previously identified tracks in Google Now’s display. The service and it’s Google Now compatibility offers an inkling of how Now will function with a great deal more apps making use of its API.
Google have not confirmed by when the Google Now API will be made available to all developers.
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