Google Now for iPhone: Google, Apple and Some Smartphone Drama

Google Now for iPhone: Anytime you get together two tech giants, such as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) you are sure to have just a little bit of drama. And that is exactly what is going on right now with Google Now for the Apple iPhone.

While this is something that most Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google fans have been waiting for, it appears that there is a problem with the app. Or that is at least what some people are reporting.

According to Lifehacker, many are reporting “excessive battery drain due to location reporting.”

Google Inc (GOOG)As you can imagine, this is not something users were expecting. Instead, they were hoping the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) app for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS was going to offer tons of great features without this glaring issue.

While many people have reported ways around this, such as turning off location reporting from the app’s settings, this is not something you should have to do with a brand new app. Especially one that comes from a company like Google.

You knew it was coming. Now, let’s take a closer look at the drama unfolding between Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

In short, the people at Google don’t feel that this is an issue. In fact, they have come out and stated that there is no such problem.

Here is a statement, provided by Google to Lifehacker, discussing the rumor regarding the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS app:

“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.”

Well, there you have it. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is saying nothing is wrong and Apple are saying something different. The only thing now is for Cupertino to weigh in on the issue…

For more on Google Now, see the following video:

Check back here for more updates on Google Now for iPhone.

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