Nearby is Google’s answer to Apple’s Continuity

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Published 8 Jun 2014

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Over the last few months, Google has slowly and steadily expanded the capabilities of Google Now by adding a plethora of new cards to it. However, it looks like the best is yet to come with the company probably saving it up for Google I/O.

The excellent folks over at Android Police have unearthed a new upcoming Google Now feature — Nearby — that would allow your device to interact with other Android devices nearby, or even places, people and other things.

    Below is the exact definition of Nearby from its on-boarding screen:

    Nearby lets you connect, share, and do more with people, places, and things near you.

    When Nearby is turned on for your account, Google can periodically turn on the mic, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and similar features on all your current and future devices. Google+ and other Google services need this access to help you connect, share, and more.

    When you turn on Nearby, you’re also turning on Location History for your account and Location Reporting for this device. Google needs these services to periodically store your location data for use by Nearby, other Google services, and more.

    google_now_nearby_settings

    In a nutshell, Nearby is a lot like Apple’s Continuity feature, which it demoed at WWDC earlier this week, except that it is more open and will work when you are in close proximity to a specific person or place as well. AP reports that users would be able to decide to whom their devices are visible to.

    Looking at how big a feature this is going to be, I expect Google to unveil it in just over two weeks at Google I/O.

    [Via Android Police]