Google Search Now Lets You Send Directions, Notes, And Alarms To Your Android Phone

Google sure is on a roll when it comes to making our lives easier just by using its immensely popular search engine. Just over a week ago, the search giant rolled out a feature that allows you to type a simple query, “find my phone”, into the Google omnibox to locate your lost or stolen smartphone. Today, Google is expanding its omnibox’s capabilities to include the ability to send directions from your desktop to your Android smartphone.

It’s not exactly like this was a tough feat to accomplish previously, but it’s now so easy a caveman could do it. All you have to is type “send directions” and you will be presented with a map overlay which gives your phone’s current location as the starting point. Enter the destination into the next field and click “Send directions to my phone.”

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That’s it; it’s that simple. Google Maps will automatically pop up on your smartphone once you unlock it and will await your command to start navigating.

Google also has another omnibox trick up its sleeve which can also be useful in a pinch. Type in “send a note to my phone” and up pops a box where you can type in anything you want (perhaps a grocery list or a reminder to pickup some flowers for your wife). Click “Send note to your phone” and you’re all set. And if that wasn’t enough, you can also set an alarm by typing, you guessed it, “set an alarm” into the omnibox.

I’m sure that many people would be just as happy performing the above commands by picking up their phones and simply saying “OK Google,” but if you’re phone isn’t within arm’s reach, this makes a nice alternative.

Brandon Hill

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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