Ask HN: Do you use Google Now?

Yes, I use it. Once Google Now gave me a fantastically useful recommendation for an Indian restaurant when I was on a trip out of town. The restaurant was within walking distance of my hotel, but I never would have known it was there without Google Now. That alone made me glad I have Google Now on my Nexus 4.

http://kckormasutra.net/

Google Now is great if you travel a lot by road and have regularly occurring destinations and/or at regular times. It has a great ability to predict "Are you going to xyz?" - If you answer yes, it already knows where you are going and presents the satnav all ready to go with traffic reports etc. I find that so so handy.

Nope. Google Now would piss me off no end so I disabled it. It'd constantly disturb me with crap I didn't need to or want to know. In fact, it really didn't contribute any value to my life and at times just felt creepy.

Yes, I use it and I think it is pretty cool. Mostly, it is just a quick way to navigate to what I need on my smart phone without having to open the app folder, find the app, navigate to the item of interest within the app. It also integrates nicely with calendar events and Google Keep. You might be able to use it (in limited capacity) without sharing location data.

Partially on.

I find it too creepy. Especially after the Snowden leaks. My life isn't that interesting, but still. If my location data could be anonymised somehow then I'd be more happy allowing Google access to my location data.

I do use the reminder feature though, which is part of Google Now I believe.

TL;DR: I have location sharing switched off on my Nexus 4 because I find it intrusive. Google Now is switched on, but useless without location data.

I try not to use anything related to Google. This includes their technologies like Go and AngularJS. Not that the NSA has necessarily compromised those too, but it's a matter of principal; the same reason I don't shop at Wal-Mart or eat at McDonalds: I do not trust them to do the right thing.

Yes, I use it to check weather and get traffic updates. quite less information is shown on cards. But, if you are not using it, you aren't missing much!

I travel a lot and have standard routes, so flights, drive times, etc are great. Also, it knows the sports teams I like, so the info is usually around when I want it.

However, the most amazing thing is when I get email receipts with tracking info in them, I get a card that reminds me of it, with a link to check the status.

Pretty amazing and only getting better.

I do a lot of driving to get around, and Google Now has been a huge help in the very simple things I need my phone to do -- navigation, scheduling, and so forth.

Yep, I like the way it tells me how long my journey to uni in the morning is going to take.

I use it to know traffic and weather, as well as keep track of shipments, but I do not use Web Search History.

Yes

No. Searching on Google is akin to using a public washroom where video cameras have been installed.

I used to until 4.4 introduced Web Updates, so Google Now would bug we with updates to websites I don’t even remember visiting or haven’t been to in ages. They said in Help that there was a way to turn off that feature but I was only able to turn off specific cards for each site…

The phone company already knows your location history, so I'm like why not.

The annoyance with Google Now is the fickleness of what it decides to give you. "This would be the perfect time for card X" means it will probably be the one time it doesn't show up.

"It's 2am, he's leaving a concert somewhere strange in Los Angeles... let's show him the "Drive to Work" card."