Google Assistant, originally a Pixel-exclusive feature, has now made its way to pretty much all Android devices. As a result, it’s harder to actually get to Now, since the default action has been hijacked by Assistant.
RELATED: How to Customize Your Google Assistant Daily Briefing
If you’re anything like me, however, you still use Google Now a lot. Fortunately, there are a handful of ways to easily get back to Now—all without interfering with Assistant. Let’s do this thing.
Option One: Just Open the Google App
Yeah, that’s it: the Google app that’s already installed on your phone is actually the same thing as Google Now—for all intents and purposes, they are one and the same.
So open the app tray and find the Google App. Open it. Done.
Option Two: Tell Assistant to Open the Google App
This is admittedly a weird solution, but a solution nonetheless. When you long-press the home button to wake Asssistant, just say “Open the Google App.”
Bam, the Google App, and by extension, Google Now, is there.
Option Three: Use a Custom Action in Nova Launcher
RELATED: Create More Useful Shortcuts on Android’s Home Screen with Nova Launcher Gestures
Since the Google Now Launcher is dying, that removes it from the list of recommended ways to easily access Google Now. Fortunately, you can easily set a custom action in Nova Launcher—our favorite Android launcher here at How-To Geek—to quickly and easily access Now directly from your home screen.
Go ahead and open Nova’s Settings menu—you’ll find this in the app drawer.
Form here, scroll down to Gestures & Inputs.
To get a similar experience to the way things worked before Assistant (or in the Google Now Launcher), we’re going to change the top option: Home Button.
Click that, which will open a set of options that can be assigned to the home button. Scroll down to Google Now and tap it.
Now whenever you’re already on your home screens, a quick tap of the home button will open Now. Easy peasy.
This one is easily my favorite solution, because it makes the most sense: it’s simple, intuitive, and just stays out of the way. Plus, you can still easily access Assistant by long-pressing the home button, so they don’t interfere with each other.
