Getting the most out of Google Now on my unrooted GS3

[tomnoir]

So, as a Verizon customer I finally, finally have gotten the upgrade to JellyBean. The piece of the upgrade I've been most interested in from the start was Google Now.

I already love it. It's response time is fantastic when I ask it something. And it's surprisingly good at figuring out what I'm asking it to do and doing it.

But of course the really groundbreaking thing about Google Now is supposed to be that it 'pushes' information to you before it's even asked, based on your habits.

Now, I'm wondering how fully integrated this is with TouchWiz. I can of course pull up the Google app and see all the pretty cards, but it would be better if they showed up on my lockscreen. Anyone know how to configure it to make that happen?

Also, in articles like this one they say that I should see a big "Google" button on my lockscreen now which I can swipe to go directly to Google Now. I don't. Any way to make it show up?

Anyone found any cool tips or tricks for using Google Now with the GS3 in general?

 

[pappcam]

So, as a Verizon customer I finally, finally have gotten the upgrade to JellyBean. The piece of the upgrade I've been most interested in from the start was Google Now.

I already love it. It's response time is fantastic when I ask it something. And it's surprisingly good at figuring out what I'm asking it to do and doing it.

But of course the really groundbreaking thing about Google Now is supposed to be that it 'pushes' information to you before it's even asked, based on your habits.

Now, I'm wondering how fully integrated this is with TouchWiz. I can of course pull up the Google app and see all the pretty cards, but it would be better if they showed up on my lockscreen. Anyone know how to configure it to make that happen?

Also, in articles like this one they say that I should see a big "Google" button on my lockscreen now which I can swipe to go directly to Google Now. I don't. Any way to make it show up?

Anyone found any cool tips or tricks for using Google Now with the GS3 in general?

That feature is for stock Jelly Bean. TouchWiz has a different lock screen. You can use a lock screen replacement app like WidgetLocker to get that functionality.

 

[tomnoir]

That feature is for stock Jelly Bean. TouchWiz has a different lock screen. You can use a lock screen replacement app like WidgetLocker to get that functionality.

Thanks. Reading the reviews for the WidgetLocker app, though, it sounds like it doesn't play nice with the SG3 with JellyBean. I don't want to drop $2.99 for an app that has known compatibility issues.

 

[psyjohn]

Go to Settings|Lock Screen|Lock screen options and tap the text where it says Shortcuts (not the toggle on the right). From there you can add and delete the shortcuts you want on your lockscreen. I have the Google icon in the center on mine.

I also added a shortcut to a flashlight app so when I need a light quickly I don't have to turn the phone on, unlock it, pull down the notification panel and then tap the toggle.

 

[TadeoNYC]

You should try tiny flashlight and led
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devuni.flashlight
It has an option to turn on the flashlight by shaking your phone at the lock screen with a customizable time out.

 

[Ron H]

Go to Settings|Lock Screen|Lock screen options and tap the text where it says Shortcuts (not the toggle on the right). From there you can add and delete the shortcuts you want on your lockscreen. I have the Google icon in the center on mine.

I also added a shortcut to a flashlight app so when I need a light quickly I don't have to turn the phone on, unlock it, pull down the notification panel and then tap the toggle.

Exactly, and now JB allows you to put up to 5 shortcut icons on the lock screen ( I have phone, camera, mail, Dolphin browser, and the new Google voice search).