Dude, where's my car? Google Now will remember where you parked

Google Now Car Parking
Google Now to the rescue

Lost your car and can't remember where you parked? Google has rolled out a fresh Google Now for Android update that adds parking reminders so users will never forget where they left their ride.

In a blog post, the search company detailed how automatic parking reminder cards will start appearing for users who assign driving as their main form of transportation in Google Now.

The automatic parking detection marks a location as soon as users leave a vehicle. Additionally, Google Now will plant a marker after leaving a friend's car and whenever users step off a bus.

Previously, the Google-owned Waze has allowed users to mark their parking spaces manually, but this new update adds some automatic integration. This isn't the first time Google has integrated Waze features into Google Now; in March the Mountain View company also added traffic updates from the firm.

A bevy of improvements

Along with automatic parking reminders, the search company has tweaked Google Now to let users access phone settings using their voice. Users can simply command the phone to turn on Wi-Fi or change the volume settings.

Users will still have to touch their screens to switch on Airplane mode, but the addition of voice control lets users jump directly into the settings without the extra steps of draging down the notifications page and selecting the option.

Also with Airplane mode, the new update makes it so all your Google Now cards get wiped on the tarmac. Instead, users will get a notification informing them of the last time their Google Now cards were updated.

In a few smaller tweaks, Google Now's reminder list has been separated into more distinguishable upcoming and past blocks. Google has also made it easier to access your Nicknames by digging into your "Account & Privacy" settings.

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Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.