Gesture Activation for #Google Assistant

The one-swipe convenience of the old Google Now was one of the most magical parts of using Android back in the day, and its devolution into the Feed was a reason of sadness for many, including myself. Although most of its features were still hidden away in the Google app, checking your calendar, package tracking, or flight status was no longer just a swipe away. Thankfully, Google pretty much brought it back last month in something it calls "visual snapshot" via the Assistant. And now Google is testing a new, more convenient way of accessing it with a swipe up on the Assistant overlay.

 When the Assistant changes were first shown off back at I/O, they included this upward swipe to access the new daily summary page, but for the last couple weeks, you've had to access it via a button at the top right of the Assistant's overlay. This new tweak means it's all just a long-hold and a swipe away. It's still not as convenient as the old Google Now was, but it's an improvement.

So far, this new interface seems to be part of a server-side A/B test, as none of the recent stable or beta versions of the Google app have been able to trigger the new behavior on my devices, and our tipster is seeing it on an stable build that isn't the latest (v8.13.15.21). As always with these tests, YMMV. It may not hit a wider audience for months, if ever, or it could land for everyone tomorrow.

Source:AndroidPolice

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