Introduction to Now Brief
Now Brief is a feature on Samsung devices that aims to provide an AI-powered snapshot of your day. It pulls in data from your calendar, the weather, Samsung Health, and more. However, in our experience, it has been less than impressive.
Making Now Brief Useful
We decided to put in some effort to make Now Brief useful. The goal was to get it to show ETAs for upcoming events. After spending a few days in London, we wanted to visit Transformers Battersea before going home. To get Now Brief to show a travel card, we had to block out the day with six events, each with a location and time set.
Limitations of Now Brief
Unfortunately, while Now Brief worked, it wasn’t helpful or consistent. It took more effort to use than it was worth. The feature needs more than a single event to start working, and the route information always defaults to driving. This is a major limitation, especially for those who use public transport.
Comparison to Google Now
The failure of Now Brief highlights what a loss it was when Google discontinued Google Now. Google Now could do everything we wanted without large language models or generative AI. It knew where you needed to be, when you needed to get there, and would remember what method of travel you preferred.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while it is possible to make Now Brief useful, it is not worth the effort. The features we had before, such as Google Now, worked better. Maybe Now Brief, and other AI features like it, will get better over time. But for now, it remains a feature that is more hassle than it is worth.