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Showing posts with the label Google Assistant killed one of my favorite Android features

Google Assistant killed one of my favorite Android features, and now I’m lost

Before  Google Assistant  took on the task of delivering contextual information on your phone, there was  Now on Tap , an on-demand service that searched the web for whatever was on your screen. The two are fairly similar, except that Assistant has done away with the best feature from Now on Tap: text selection. Previously, when you held down the Home button on your  Android  device, Now on Tap would search the web for major keywords that it spotted on your screen – but it also included a text selection option to let you choose the text that you want the service to look up instantly. I used that in a bunch of apps that didn’t allow text selection by default, such as Instagram, Twitter, Sync Pro for Reddit , and Amazon Shopping. Looking up unfamiliar words, brands, culinary terms, and pop culture references that didn’t pop up on their own in Google’s interface was a breeze –  until Assistant showed up  and killed the text selection tool. Three screens w...