Google gives us a look at upcoming features in Google Search 4.0
The next app to get a fresh coat of Material Design is Google Search. In a blog post today Google has announced version 4.0 of Search and outlines a few new features. The update isn’t rolling out yet for everyone, but we can at least see what to expect when it does.
First and foremost is the new design with bold colors and fluid animations. It doesn’t look a ton different since Search already used a card-based UI, but it’s a nice little refresh.
Google has also officially announced that the Search app allows “OK Google” commands when the screen is off and charging on certain devices. So far the list includes the Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (which we already showed a few weeks ago).
Reminders have been completely restructured. Each one now gets its own card. The app will also ask if you’d like to be reminded of events it picks up from your Gmail.
We’ve saved the best for last. Search 4.0 can now be used to search for things within other apps. For example, you can say “OK Google, search Tumblr for ‘Things Organized Neatly” and it will open straight to the search results within Tumblr. This works with a few apps right now, including TripAdvisor, TuneIn, Trulia, and YouTube.
Google didn’t say when to expect 4.0 to roll out in the Play Store, but we’ll let you know as soon as it’s available. What do you think of this update? Will you use the new commands?