Google Search for iOS Updated With Voice Controls, Reminders, Notifications, and More

[Bill Killer]

I'm not quite sure where I said my goal was complete anonymity. Just not willing to over-divulge.



You sound like you are trying to justify something to yourself because something I said unnerved you. I'm not stupid. I know that specific things I do triggers tracking, but I am not as willing to yield more information just because I have provided other information to other companies. That's like saying that just because a donut is bad for me that I might as well go try heroine. Google has proven themselves far more capable at analyzing and making sense of "Big Data" than grocery stores and the like. Anybody can collect data, few can make sense of it. Facebook has proven themselves very adept at relaxing their privacy policy and surprising their users in a bad way. So far Apple has been very good with my personal data and I have grown to trust them. My credit card is a necessary evil and they do unfortunately sell information to target mailers at me for products. I don't mind letting Google know some of my interests so I get appropriate ads and offers, but I don't want to be auto-promoting products on Google+ (a new change that G+ users have to opt out of).

It's the tinfoil hat mindset from posters like yourself that drive me nuts. Google isn't sitting there reading all your emails trying to find things against you; they are using cookies to track your web activity, and thus, target ads more effectively. Personally, this never bothered me. It doesn't bother me when Facebook does it (mostly because I have my privacy settings to my liking), it doesn't bother me when iAds does it, and it doesn't bother me when Google does it.

Targeted advertising isn't a real evil.

 

[BC2009]

It's the tinfoil hat mindset from posters like yourself that drive me nuts. Google isn't sitting there reading all your emails trying to find things against you; they are using cookies to track your web activity, and thus, target ads more effectively. Personally, this never bothered me. It doesn't bother me when Facebook does it (mostly because I have my privacy settings to my liking), it doesn't bother me when iAds does it, and it doesn't bother me when Google does it.

Targeted advertising isn't a real evil.

You really need to learn to read since I said that I didn't care about targeted advertising and that I in fact like it. Maybe there are less posters with "tinfoil hat mindsets" than you think and you really just have reading comprehension problem.

My problem is when companies like Google and Facebook expose things to others that were once only visible to me or when they use my name or face in a way I did not want. Google is currently planning to pimp you out on advertisements shown to your friends if they are advertising something you gave a +1 to. Facebook is constantly revealing things to the world that users previously thought were private or deleted (remember when timeline exposed content that users thought they deleted years ago, but Facebook kept?). Its the eroding privacy policies that bother me and make me hesitant to use these services. I don't want to be in a constant chase of keeping up of what I want to opt-out of. If it was only targeted advertising, then I wouldn't have a problem.

Was that too many words for you to grasp this time since you have now failed twice to read or comprehend what I wrote.

 

[Tmelon]

Anyone else notice how under the Apps section it shows a new icon for Google Voice? Looks like we'll be seeing a long overdue redesign.

 

[justinLONG]

Anyone else notice how under the Apps section it shows a new icon for Google Voice? Looks like we'll be seeing a long overdue redesign.

I was just about to post that

 

[JGIGS]

This is exactly what I was wondering. If I have to open the App to use it, I may as well use Siri, since I'm used to her anyway. And yes, you. have. to. leave. a. space. between. words. or. Siri. will. not. understand. you.

I try to leave spaces and it still sucks. Might be partially because I'm doing it my car via it bluetooth mic. It's also not good with pro nouns.

I still like google now and I think it usually searches faster than siri but Apple cripples it from it full functionality.

 

[WB2Colorado]

Android has had all but the 'OK Google' feature for quite some time.

You have been able to use "OK Google" on every Jellybean device since Google Now was introduced (Although it used to be just "Google."

 

[Parasprite]

Complete anonymity while maintaining an online presence is impossible.

It really depends on what you mean by "online".

Now... cleaning every single one of your old traces of online presence from several years ago when you had no problem handing out location/name/email/dob like candy on Halloween now that you are completely aware that people can find trace bits of you if they were motivated enough even though you try to cut ties and track them down through very specific Google searches and remove them? Now that's impossible.

It helps when you start from scratch though.

 

[Bill Killer]

It really depends on what you mean by "online".

Now... cleaning every single one of your old traces of online presence from several years ago when you had no problem handing out location/name/email/dob like candy on Halloween now that you are completely aware that people can find trace bits of you if they were motivated enough even though you try to cut ties and track them down through very specific Google searches and remove them? Now that's impossible.

It helps when you start from scratch though.

If you want to maintain a true online presence, and not just do a Google search at a local coffee shop on a house computer, you are going to give up privacy.

I pay my credit card bills online and via mobile. My card providers know enough about and sell some general data as an additional form of revenue.

I need directions? Google Maps (not Apple Maps, that software sucks) knows my location and the kinds of POI's I search. They'll send targeted ads, suggestions, and such to me.

I purchase internet? My ISP know far more about my search habits and activities than Google, Facebook, and Apple will ever know.

Anything I've ever done on my phone, computer, iPad, television, and online video games, somebody has details or information about those activities. That's the world we live in, and if it makes some people here feel better about having their lives on iCloud instead of Google, so be it.

But, like you said, it's impossible to be a hermit and erase everything from the beginning of time. But your banking provider, AMEX, Visa and such have been around a lot longer, and they've also got an excessive amount of activity info on us.

Personally, the amount of information I am required to provide to Google is, in my mind, an acceptable trade off for access to Gmail, Drive, Docs, turn-by-turn with accurate POI algorithms, and the best search option out there.

 

[ki2594]

With the 5S at least, opening the app isn't a big deal. I'd rather wait that extra second for touch ID + opening the app to use google voice than siri when i know google's is more accurate.

loving the overall experience of google now though.

 

[C DM]

Anyone else notice how under the Apps section it shows a new icon for Google Voice? Looks like we'll be seeing a long overdue redesign.

We can only hope.

On a related note, at least they recently added the ability for essentially VoIP type of calls through your Google Voice number using the Hangouts app.

 

[macs4nw]

It's funny because as Google services get better, I find that I am using Google less. I feel that the only way that Google can improve is by my revealing more personal data to them. So the better Google gets the less I want to use them because I don't trust them with my personal data. In order to take advantage of many new Google services I need to be a Google+ member and I have so far refused to do that. Just in case anybody thinks this is an anti-Google thing, it is not. I am not on Facebook either due to privacy concerns. You never know what switch somebody is going to throw one day and make something public that was previously private and you may just forget to go and "opt out" before it goes live.

Imagine Google Now being aware of the places you frequent and then one day Google decides that they are going to promote business socially by telling your friends which places you go frequently. Now imagine that they have their POI database wrong and they tell everybody how you frequent a Japanese Massage place when in fact the address you are going to is really a sandwich shop. Worse, imagine the place you are going is some place you really want to keep private. This is the kind of thing that Google and Facebook do with personal data when then need to expand their revenues.

I agree with you completely. Although, it's interesting to note that you have chosen to simply not take advantage of advanced services and functions. In other words, there is no viable alternative.

When the Internet was simpler (ugh, makes me feel old), there was an alternative to gmail, or hotmail, etc. However, the rate of innovation at Google is making it almost impossible for anyone to catch up on the scale of services that they are providing.

With people like you and me choosing to opt-out of using useful features, it will make no difference-- sorry, that's just the truth. The dream of "if we all boycott it, they'll change" is dead because of the mass amount of new users they add daily. Our only hope is privacy legislation. Until that happens, we're screwed.

I'm not quite sure where I said my goal was complete anonymity. Just not willing to over-divulge…...

…..You sound like you are trying to justify something to yourself because something I said unnerved you. I'm not stupid. I know that specific things I do triggers tracking, but I am not as willing to yield more information just because I have provided other information to other companies. That's like saying that just because a donut is bad for me that I might as well go try heroine. Google has proven themselves far more capable at analyzing and making sense of "Big Data" than grocery stores and the like. Anybody can collect data, few can make sense of it. Facebook has proven themselves very adept at relaxing their privacy policy and surprising their users in a bad way. So far Apple has been very good with my personal data and I have grown to trust them. My credit card is a necessary evil and they do unfortunately sell information to target mailers at me for products. I don't mind letting Google know some of my interests so I get appropriate ads and offers, but I don't want to be auto-promoting products on Google+ (a new change that G+ users have to opt out of).

Precisely! My sentiments on the matter as well.
All that collected information we --in some cases so freely-- give up, is power, that serves only one master.

Complete anonymity while maintaining an online presence is impossible.

While I admit that in some cases a powerful argument justifying this can be made, it is --regrettably so-- cleverly and purposefully engineered this way, by those who purport to know what's best for us.

Something we should always have in the back of our minds, when we are communicating on-line.

 

[KALLT]

Complete anonymity while maintaining an online presence is impossible.

Which is in itself no reason to shrug and share every bit of personal data. Google does not operate in a vacuum and countless competing and more privacy-conscious services have sprouted over the years, you just have to look for them. Protecting your personal data is not a binary choice between accepting everything and living in a cave.

If you don't want to use Google's services for privacy reasons, then that is perfectly legitimate.

 

[Tmelon]

I was just about to post that
View attachment 445624

Taking a second look at it, the Books icon is also different. Right now it still has the black background.

 

[Terrin]

Google Music, WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU

Who is this we you speak of? I have cleansed Google from all my devices.

 

[Poisonivy326]

As I said it amazes me that people on macrumors freak out about having a gmail account but have so much trust in Apple that they share all their files on the icloud and don't think that with every song you buy, every movie you stream, every file you keep on the cloud, that Apple doesn't collect more data about you.

http://techland.time.com/2013/11/05...o-1000-users-to-u-s-government-in-early-2013/

 

[KALLT]

As I said it amazes me that people on macrumors freak out about having a gmail account but have so much trust in Apple that they share all their files on the icloud and don't think that with every song you buy, every movie you stream, every file you keep on the cloud, that Apple doesn't collect more data about you.

http://techland.time.com/2013/11/05...o-1000-users-to-u-s-government-in-early-2013/

Collecting personal data is but one part of the story though. The crux is data processing and analysis. Apple's business does not depend on personal data, Google's does. Apple sells hardware and software to make revenue, Google 'sells' behavioural data to lure advertisers. The incentives are different and they shape the way those companies think about personal data.

 

[sir1963nz]

I agree with you completely. Although, it's interesting to note that you have chosen to simply not take advantage of advanced services and functions. In other words, there is no viable alternative.

When the Internet was simpler (ugh, makes me feel old), there was an alternative to gmail, or hotmail, etc. However, the rate of innovation at Google is making it almost impossible for anyone to catch up on the scale of services that they are providing.

With people like you and me choosing to opt-out of using useful features, it will make no difference-- sorry, that's just the truth. The dream of "if we all boycott it, they'll change" is dead because of the mass amount of new users they add daily. Our only hope is privacy legislation. Until that happens, we're screwed.

Innovation ???, Google is buying a company a day to acquire innovative products, as a company they are doing less and less.

 

[C DM]

Innovation ???, Google is buying a company a day to acquire innovative products, as a company they are doing less and less.

Curious, what company have they bought today, or yesterday, or even the day before yesterday? How about even last week?

 

[Bill Killer]

Innovation ???, Google is buying a company a day to acquire innovative products, as a company they are doing less and less.

Sources for both claims?

----------

Collecting personal data is but one part of the story though. The crux is data processing and analysis. Apple's business does not depend on personal data, Google's does. Apple sells hardware and software to make revenue, Google 'sells' behavioural data to lure advertisers. The incentives are different and they shape the way those companies think about personal data.

Apple also sells behavioral data for targeted advertising. They recently bolstered their iAds efforts when developing iTunes Radio.

 

[kuwxman]

You have been able to use "OK Google" on every Jellybean device since Google Now was introduced (Although it used to be just "Google."

Maybe in the Search app itself, but that isn't what 'OK Google' does/is. It allows you to search from anywhere. On your homescreen? "OK Google. Find [blank]." In another app? "OK Google. Set a reminder for 3:30pm."

 

[KALLT]

Apple also sells behavioral data for targeted advertising. They recently bolstered their iAds efforts when developing iTunes Radio.

Partly in response to Google and other advertisers though and not in itself as part of a significant revenue stream (which explains the lack of interest on Apple's part and why we haven't heard much about it ever since it was introduced). The iAd programme is not nearly as advanced as Google's algorithms and it is possible to opt out of the behavioural-data collection with iAd. What matters is the motive and extent of the data collection and in particular Google is a worrisome player in that field.

Google's sole venture is advertising and behavioural data is the means to do it successfully. Google needs your data, the more comprehensive and accurate, the better. That is why Google not only has many apps, but also why pretty much all of these apps are free. Binding customers to your services ensures a flux of behavioural data. Google's future thus depends on their ability to collect and analyse data and accordingly shapes the way in which Google deals with privacy issues.