Maybe you ’ve got yourself someApple hardware , but you prefer Google ’s apps and services , or perchance you just line up Google a less shuddery Big Brother in your iPhone than Apple ( though both society should urge concerns about privacy)—to what extent can you live the Google life sentence on your iPhone ? We ’ll blab out you through the footfall you need to take here because there ’s more to it than just installing the Gmail app and sign in with your Google credentials . But once you ’re done Apple will have a little less info about your day to daylight biography while Google might have quite a bit more .
Install—and tweak—Google’s iOS apps
Let ’s start with the apps , because Google get more of them for iOS than you might have realized . We ’ve gotGmailandGoogle MapsandChrome , all of which you may have already , then there’sGoogle DriveandDocs , SheetsandSlidesready to supercede Pages , Numbers and Keynote .
GetGoogle Keepfor your note , Google Play Movies & TV for your movies and shows , and YouTube Music for your tunes . Ditch Apple News and habituate the recently revampedGoogle Newsinstead . Google Voicecan wield your calls and messaging and if you ’ve signed up forYouTube TVthere ’s an app for that too . You ’ll also want to put in the mainYouTubeapp , if you have n’t already .
Google Photosdoes a hunky-dory job of backing up all your photos and telecasting to the swarm , and will do so free of bearing if you’re able to do by your photos getting resize down to 16MP and your video getting encoded down to 1080p . If you want to go even further , you’re able to useGoogle Hometo cope smart home devices andGoogle Payto , well , devote for stuff — though it ca n’t replace Apple Pay as the NFC requital method on your iPhone .
Photo: David Nield (Gizmodo)
There is one gape yap here and that ’s message ( particularly if you do n’t use Google Voice).Hangoutsis an app we like a lot , but from the disturbance Google is micturate , it ’s in its death throes in its current shape — and we ’re not on the dot sure what ’s go to get next . For now , you might have to turn back to good old school text messaging ( or a more secure alternative like Signal ) .
Do n’t forgetGoogle Duoso you’re able to invalidate FaceTime , Google Calendarfor planning out your schedule , andGoogle Translatefor hold back you out of problem while abroad . at last , useGboardas an iOS keyboard replacing ( General then Keyboard in configurations ) , which give way you one - tap access code to Google search as and when you want it . There ’s no Google Fit for iOS , but you could useWear OSon iOS , and then Google Fit on a Wear atomic number 8 smartwatch ( and the web ) .
Apple does n’t let you convert any of the iOS nonpayment apps — so internet connection always open in Safari , and so on — yet the Google apps can imprint a little walled garden of their own . channelise into configurations from the Gmail app fare , then take Default apps , and you may make certain function links from Gmail open in Google Maps and web links from Gmail open in the Chrome web browser app . exchangeable preferences can be obtain in Google Calendar and Google Photos .
Embrace the Google Assistant
If you want to go even further in the Google takeover of your Apple equipment , establish the mainGoogleapp for iOS as well as theGoogle Assistant . The Google app first and foremost gives you access to Google hunting , but you also get the Discover feed uncommitted on Android ( with recommends content from the web ) , and entree to Google Lens look-alike search .
Should you need to search with a voice command , you could tap the microphone icon in the search box . you could even apply the “ fine Google ” hotword , but only when the Google app is open — wiretap the cog ikon ( top left ) then Voice Search and turn on the ‘ all right Google ’ hotword toggle switch .
Dig into the notification configurations for the Google app and it protrude to get even smarter : you’re able to enable alerts for sports games you ’re interested in , flight that are referenced in your Gmail write up , weather updates , and dealings on your regular commute to work . It ’s another level of Google - ness on your iPhone .
The Google Assistant works along like lines ( they may well commingle in the future ) but choke even further . Tap the minimal brain damage to Siri button on the opening screen to add an “ all right Google ” mastery to Siri — it ’s not quite as well-off as using Google Assistant on Android , because you still have to say “ hey Siri ” first or weight-lift the side clit , but it ’ll just about do .
Elsewhere in the Assistant app , you may wiretap the top left Assistant ikon or just say “ hey Google ” to ask all the common Assistant questions : What the weather ’s going to do , when Shakespeare was born , the flight of steps you have total up ( mined from your Gmail accounting ) , and so on . Tap the keyboard icon to type your request too .
The Google Assistant on iOS can control your smart home plate devices too , arrogate you ’ve added them in the Google Home app — no pauperism to habituate HomeKit . Assign a bunch of sassy lights to a bedchamber , for representative , and you could say “ turn over off the light in the sleeping room ” to do just that .
Add your Google account to Apple’s apps
If you ’d rather use Apple ’s default apps for email , contact , and calendars , but have Google data underpinning them , that ’s also possible on iOS . From stage setting , rap Passwords & Accounts , then Add Account . select Google from the list and sign in with your Google account certificate .
The concluding concealment lets you choose which e-mail , contacts , calendar , and notes get synced across . In the shell of banker’s bill , this impart a novel Gmail folder in the Notes app , with any notes inside it then synchronise to your Gmail report with a Notes label . When you ’ve made your synchronize option , tap Save .
All the datum from Gmail , Google Calendar , and Google Contacts then show up up inside Mail , Calendar , and Contacts on your iPhone . Any edits you make get synced back to Google ’s servers and sent out to all the other devices you ’re log into Google on , so you may employ Apple ’s apps with your Google data point more or less as normal .
There ’s another way to lend some extra Google to your iPhone , and that ’s through widgets . Assuming you ’ve already added a bunch of Google apps to your iPhone , swipe to the Today View , scroll down , and tap Edit under the gubbins . option like Chrome , Google Assistant , Google Calendar , and Google Directions appear .
As with any doojigger you require to contribute , tap the greenish Plus icon next to the Google apps you need to have widgets for , then reposition them in the main inclination above by drag and throw away the handles on the right . If there are any thingmabob you want to remove , intercept the red Minus picture then Remove .
In the typesetter’s case of the Google Assistant widget , for representative , you’re able to tap the microphone clitoris to demand a question or run a search . In the example of the Chrome Quick Actions whatchamacallit , meanwhile , you could launch a hunt , a vocalization hunt , or a lookup in an incognito window , as well as undefendable up radio link that have been copied to the iOS clipboard in Chrome .
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