Microsoft Takes On Google 'Now On Tap' With New Bing Snapshots On Android
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To showcase what the new Knowledge and Action Graph API can do for app developers, Microsoft is updating the Bing App on Android with snapshots that users can launch outside of the Bing App itself. This is similar to the Google Now on Tap feature on Android. Beautiful and useful answers show up when you long-press the home button while using one of your favorite apps. Bing detects things on the page, and shows you snapshot of information and useful actions related to these things. No need to leave your app just to look up information on something that caught your eye – do it right in the snapshot. And when you’re done, it’s easy to dismiss it to go back to what you were doing.
The days of having to interrupt what you’re doing just so you can do a search are over. Say you’re in your favorite social media app and you see a photo of a travel destination that catches your eye. Just long-press the home button and Bing will scan your screen, identify the destination, and show you a snapshot with key facts about that destination, along with connections into relevant apps and services, like AirBnB, TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet, and others. You get all this information without ever having to leave the app.
Bing requires permission to Android’s Accessibility feature for snapshots on tap to work. You can get the updated Bing App here.
