Quite ahead of its usual Wednesday schedule, Google has pushed out a new update that makes Google Now even more usable anywhere. With the latest Google Search, Google Now cards will continue to display relevant information even without an Internet connection.
Google Now might be fancy and useful but virtual assistants such as this, like Siri, have one important requirement, or limitation if you wish to see it that way. They do require an Internet connection to function properly, which might be ideal but is not always realistic. Google Search does offer the option to have offline voice recognition but Google Now’s functionality is intimately tied to the Internet, even for some things that might not absolutely need to. Luckily, that now changes.
Google Now Cards will be able to retain and show their information even when you lose your Internet connection. This could be useful for finding where you parked your car, which is a new feature that just landed last week, or looking through your reminders and appointments even when you’ve entered an Internet deadzone. Of course, you shouldn’t expect functionality that really does need an active Internet connection to still work without one, and the information you might be looking at might very well be outdated already by that time.
As per other Google Now features, this comes via the Google Search Android app. The update has been pushed to Google Play Store, but like any other update, it will take some time before it hits all devices everywhere.
SOURCE: +Google
VIA: SlashGear
I just tested this and when I’m in airplane mode, the only thing that voice recognition will do it allow me to call contacts. I can’t set reminders, for example.