How ironic: My Google Play device order didn’t show up in Google Now
One of the great things about Google Now is how it just knows the information you need, before you know you need it. And since I order a lot of things on Amazon, and occasionally get some cool tech stuff to review, I often make use of Google Now’s package tracking.
Theoretically, whenever a tracking number appears in your Gmail, Google Now will recognize it and put a card in the Google Now app with its expected delivery time, along with a link to track the package. And so far, it’s been working very reliably – until I ordered a Chromebook Pixel from the Play Store.
I actually received two emails from Google Play when I ordered the Pixel: an order confirmation and a shipping confirmation. That’s two chances for Google Now to be alerted that a package should be coming, along with one chance to pick up that tracking number in the shipping confirmation. Unfortunately, a Google Now card never appeared for the device order, in spite of Gmail on the desktop recognizing the order number and providing a tracking link on the right-hand side of my screen.
To make matters worse, I ordered something on Amazon at the same time, and the Google Now card appeared for that item just as it should have. To make sure I wasn’t somehow accidentally blocking Google Now from recognizing the Chromebook Pixel order, I didn’t archive or delete the shipping confirmation – in fact, it’s still sitting in my inbox. I simply never got a Google Now card.
What makes this so ironic is that Google Now shipping notifications work with one of Google’s biggest competitor’s – Amazon – but not with Google’s own online storefront. Huh?
It just goes to show that Google Now is far from perfect. Even though the service is great, it still needs some TLC to iron out all the wrinkles.
