Google yesterday updated its search app for iOS with the ability to ask follow-up questions using your voice in addition to simple queries.
For example, after initiating a casual conversation by tapping the microphone or saying "Ok Google", you can ask simple questions like "What's the weather like?" followed by "What about this weekend?", and the app will provide weather information as an answer to the second question as well.
This means that the search app is now able to understand that the questions are linked together, and it will no longer treat each like an individual Google Search. Previously, each query had to be structured uniquely, and the absence of the word "weather" in the second question would puzzle the app.
In addition to better voice search, the update also adds new Google Now cards that inform you of interesting articles on your favorite topics, your upcoming trips, and your favorite authors and blogs. These cards appear at the bottom of the app.
The search giant has also added support for cricket sports cards, a feature that landed on Google Search for Android back in March.
The app is now faster both in terms of the Google Search component as well as Google Now, and the company is also promising more beautiful and fluid results from Google Images.
Google has been adding sophisticated, context-specific features to its search assistant, and in the process, has come a long way ahead of its chief competitor Siri.