Google App Update With Now On Tap Rolling Out To Android M Preview 3
The coveted ‘Now on Tap’ that was unveiled at this year’s Google I/O is finally within grasp for those running Android 6.0 Marshmallow Developer Preview 3 as the company seems to have started rolling out an updated Google app that comes bundled with the feature. Apart from the system-wide context-aware addition to Google’s search assistant, the new 5.3 version of the app also brings the Android M look to Google Now Launcher, replacing the usual UI of the app drawer and widgets list with a vertical variant.
Most likely a product of Google’s endeavors with machine learning, Now on Tap is the next big upgrade to Google Now and its integration with the Android platform. By simply holding down the Home button, the feature can be invoked from anywhere in the OS to scan on-screen content, provide related Now cards and answer relevant queries.
The update wasn’t meant to be pushed to Marshmallow preview builds, but Google seems to have changed its mind, maybe in reaction to Microsoft releasing a similar feature for Bing dubbed ‘Snapshot on Tap’. Regardless, the roll out will be gradual from Google’s side, so you’re likely going to have to wait a while before it is pushed to your device.
Fortunately, as is to be expected of the Android community, users who’ve received the update early were kind enough to extract its APK and share it with the rest of us. You can download the Google v5.3 APK from the link provided at the end and sideload it to your device. As mentioned earlier, the updated app will only seems to work with the third Android M Developer Preview.
