Monday, March 24, 2014

How to enable Google Now for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) with Google Apps for Business Accounts

Google Now for iOS
I've got GAFYD (Google Apps for your Domain) running mail for hanselman.com and managing Google logins for the family. (There's 14 of us.)
Google Now (that's the fancy cards and predictive assistant) for iOS was just released (you can download Google Now here) and integrated into the Google Search app for iPhone and iPad.
If you install it and log in with your Google Apps account, you'll get an error that "your administrator hasn't enabled Google Now for your domain."
You'll need to (or your admin will need to) turn it on for your Google Apps Domain. It just takes a moment.
Note that you're changing this setting under Android but it affects iOS as well, which is why it's so unintuitive.
Google Apps for Business, Education, and Government: Google Now needs to be turned on by an administrator before it can be used.
If you are an administrator, you can enable Google Now for users in your organization by following these steps:
  1. Sign in to your Google Apps control panel.
  2. Go to Settings > Mobile > Org Settings > Android settings.
  3. Click the checkbox next to Enable Google Now to turn on Google Now.
  4. Click Save.
Here's a screenshot describing the flow, as it's not obvious.
Click Settings, Mobile, Enable Google Now
It took about 10 minutes for the setting to propagate. You may also need to force-quit the Google app for it to pick up the new setting. Your mileage may vary, but this IS how you enable Google Now, regardless of device.
I hope this saves you time and frustration. Pass it on.
UPDATE: If you've updated to the new console, the location in the new console is:https://admin.google.com/AdminHome#ServiceSettings/notab=1&service=mobile&subtab=org

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