I fell for Google Now when I booted my old Nexus to test test something, and Google Now had read through my emails and showed me a tracking status for a UPS package I was expecting. I was pretty jealous of that functionality, but never convinced to go back to Android just for one feature. Now, I really have no reason.
It's also pretty telling of something when more iOS devices have Google Now than Android devices do.
I had a similar "whoa" moment a couple of weeks ago.
Google alerted me that I should leave for Santa Barbara "now".
Which was really, really weird for me, since I was already halfway there (from Phoenix).
Apparently, it had read through my emails, seen a receipt for sigur ros tickets from ticketmaster, figured out where I was, and already calculated how long it would take me to get there.
I'd guess he left earlier than he strictly had to to make the specific appointment. The "leave now" is presumably just "if you want to be on-time", not "if you want to be on-time and do some antiquing and grab some lunch first".
I guess if you look like you're on the way, and it looks like you're going to make it on time then it shouldn't prompt.
If you do get to the restaurant around the corner and stop then it should realise that it may need to remind you.
Anyway, I've signed up for it today. I like the idea in principle, and I understand how hard it is to get this right. I assume it will get better over time as they tweak it, so it's worth giving them a fair crack of the whip.
There's absolutely no way for it to infer that 100%. How many times have people started driving to an event or the grocery store and taken a turn towards home halfway there? I'd rather be reminded at an appropriate time even if it's unnecessary than not be reminded at all.
I've had it recognize order confirmations for concert tickets to a show a couple of hours away, parse them, and automatically create a notification with navigation at an appropriate time to leave.
It only integrates with the Gmail app on the device. There are specific cards that will work _only_ if you have the Gmail app pulling in email and it's enabled.
I was robbing a bank and Google alerted me that I should leave "now".
Which was really weird for me, since I had a lot of gold to transport.
Apparently, it read through my emails, seen a glitch from other galaxy, figured out portal has opened, and already calculated how long it would take for the aliens to invade the earth.
Of course he knows it. His comment said he was introduced to Google Now on his Nexus. Google Now requires a minimum of Android 4.1.
iOS feels pretty old-fashioned in comparison.
Pretty subjective. I feel it's the other way around, with Android feeling old-fashioned, although I really like Android's power. I use both Android and iOS daily.
As you probably know, Google Now is on Jelly Bean and up (Android 4.1+)
According to Google's own statistics, just 25% of Android devices [that access the Play store] are on Jelly Bean. Almost 70% are on Ice Cream Sandwich or Gingerbread.
Not sure how many iOS devices have the Google Search app installed, but I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage of total iOS devices with Google Now is > 25%...
It's also pretty telling of something when more iOS devices have Google Now than Android devices do.