With Gemini on Android, Google Points to Mobile Computing’s Future—and Past

Nearly a decade ago, Google showed off a feature called Now on Tap in Android Marshmallow—tap and hold the home button and Google will surface helpful contextual information related to what’s on the screen. Today, at Google’s I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California, the new features Google is touting in its Android operating system feel like the Now on Tap of old—allowing you to harness contextual information around you to make using your phone a bit easier. “I think what’s exciting is we now have the technology to build really exciting assistants,” Dave Burke, vice president of engineering on Android, tells me over a Google Meet video call. Burke says, “It’s a very visceral, fun, and modern way to search … It skews younger as well because it’s so fun to use.” Samat claims Google has received positive feedback from consumers, but Circle to Search’s latest feature hails specifically from student feedback.