Bing's new Snapshot feature on Android aims to rival Google Now on Tap

First announced at Google I/O 2015, Google Now on Tap might be the most anticipated feature that will be baked into the consumer-ready version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Now on Tap will be able to give you information when you need it without having to exit what you’re doing. With a simple long press of the home button, Google will scan what’s currently on your screen and pull up relevant information about what it thinks you’re looking for. For instance, if you’re talking to your friend about a certain movie in your messaging app, Now on Tap will recognize the movie name and pull up an IMDB page or any other relevant info pertaining to that movie.

To rival Google’s efforts, Microsoft has just pushed out an update to its Bing for Android application that brings a new feature called Snapshots. The new feature can be triggered by a long press of the home button inside any application. Bing will be able to detect things on the page and will show you “snapshots” of relevant information and actions. Once you’re done with Bing, all you need to do is dismiss the Snapshot and go right back to what you were doing.

One benefit of using Google Now on Tap is that it’s baked into the OS, whereas Bing Snapshots won’t be able to integrate easily with other system level apps. With that said, Google Now on Tap isn’t here yet, so you should try this out in the meantime. Once Android 6.0 Marshmallow comes to your phone, though, you’re probably going to want to switch back to Google’s version.

If you’re interested in trying it out, head to the Play Store link below for the download.