Google Now to Help Users Avoid Crowds at Public Places

Google, besides announcing the feature to dictate messages to third-party apps via Google Now, has also introduced a new Google Search function that lets users tackle crowds and peak hours at public places.

Announced on the search giant's Google+ post, the new Google Search feature tells users the busiest hours for business and public places so that they can avoid crowds and manage their work more easily. The feature breaks down the information on an hour-by-hour basis.

Users would have to simply search for a place, for instance 'Blue Bottle Williamsburg', tap on the title and see a hourly graph for each day alongside other information like timings, contact, menu and others. The feature works in a similar manner to how Google Maps shows users how dense the traffic is on their way. Google also recently rolled out a Maps feature that informs users whether the place they are navigating to will be closed by the time they get there.

Meanwhile, Google has started rolling out a new feature that gives users the ability to send text messages via leading third-party messaging apps using the 'Ok Google' voice-command. For instance, if users have to send a message to someone on WhatsApp, they can simply say "Ok Google, send a WhatsApp message to Josh: let's do dinner tomorrow night" and the launcher would send the message using the app. Users can also do it in two steps, saying "Ok Google, send a WhatsApp message to Joe," after which they'll get a prompt asking them to dictate their message.

Some of the apps supported by the new Google Now instant messaging feature are WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Telegram and NextPlus.