Comments and complaints about the battery usage of the new Google Now for iOS have mounted over the last few days since its release. I wrote about this issue yesterday, and iOS developer Carlos Ribas was kind enough to shed a ton of light on how Location Services work in iOS, and how Google more than likely designed the Google Now feature of Google Search to work. His description (which is located in the Comments section of that article) is definitely worth the read, if you want some extra insight into how iOS location-based features work from a developer’s perspective.
Today, Google weighed in on a post that appeared on Lifehacker detailing the same Google Now battery drain tip I mentioned in my post yesterday (Lifehacker actually sourced a post at Cult of Mac that had the tip). Let’s just sat that Steve Jobs would be proud of whoever drafted this reply:
Reports that Google Now drains battery life are incorrect. We understand people’s concern about seeing the Location Services icon stay on when they use Google Now. Many apps that keep the icon on actually do drain the phone’s battery because they require very accurate location. (For example a navigation app has to run your GPS all the time to keep you from missing your turn.) Google Now is built very differently: it uses cell towers and wifi hot spots for much lower battery impact.
We extensively tested Google Now on iOS for months and didn’t see reports of significant battery impact — we would encourage you to try it in the Google Search app for a few days and we don’t expect you to see significant impact on your battery. If you are seeing a problem, please do tell us (just tap feedback in the app settings). We take user feedback very seriously.
Rough translation: “You’re holding it wrong.” Sorry. Couldn’t resist. It’s more like, “You really don’t understand what you’re looking at, so just leave the programming to us.” Like I said, this is right out of the Jobs Playbook, which seems kind of odd, coming from Google. Well, except for maybe Eric Schmidt.
If there is one thing I’ve learned doing warranty and service work as a programmer, it’s that you have to be careful how you word responses to your customers. It is very easy to come across the wrong way, which leaves you sounding like a condescending jerk, and can result in your current customer becoming a former one. There is an art to these kinds of responses when done properly, that leaves you relatively unscathed, while not making your customer look or feel ignorant. Just follow such a smooth statement with the appropriate fixes and explanations, and you’re good to go.
In contrast, the responder from Google come right out of the box with, “Reports that Google Now drains battery life are incorrect.” That isn’t going to come across very well to the people reporting huge drops in battery life while Google Now is enabled on their iPhones. Even if the Google employee is right, coming out guns blazing is going to ruffle some feathers.
Then, after a series of potentially polarizing statements, the responder says, “If you are seeing a problem, please do tell us (just tap feedback in the app settings). We take user feedback very seriously.” So, despite the fact that Google is almost certainly correct, they would like to know what’s going on, just in case. Yeah. After all the bluster up front, what’s the point? Most of your audience has already tuned you out.
Another point of note in this response is the statement that Google Now only uses WiFi for location. As Carlos Ribas described in his comment to my post yesterday, this is entirely possible. The filled in Location Services arrow shows up whenever an app calls for location, whether it is using GPS, WiFi, or Cellular to do it. However, the Google Inside Search page that I referenced yesterday conflicts with this statement, stating that GPS is used periodically for location. At some point, Google needs to consolidate its position on how the app works, and make sure that everyone is aware of it.
Then, there is the fact that several users are complaining about sudden, severe battery drain that coincided with enabling Google Now in the Google Search app. While I have not experienced significant drain, myself, a couple of people who commented on my original Google Now for iOS post had. There are enough of these articles and reports around the net that someone from Google felt the need to respond. It would also seem that, no matter how small the bug is, something is amiss in the latest version of Google Search.
At the end of the day, this issue isn’t the end of the world. What is probably a sporadic software glitch in a new feature that was just released certainly isn’t as significant as Apple’s Antennagate problems with the iPhone 4. Software is a LOT easier to fix than hardware. And even Antennagate was a tempest in a teapot that blew over and disappeared as quickly as it rose up. Whatever Google says publicly, they will collect data about this issue, and quietly release an update to fix it. This too shall pass.
That said, like Steve, with his backhanded non-apology and bribe in the wake of Antennagate, Google is just feeding the monster here. Heck, they didn’t even give users a bribe. Just the backhand.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: Google Now, Google Now battery drain, Google Now for iOS, Google Now for iOS battery drain, Google Now GPS, Google Search for iOS
