How To Tweak Travel Times in Google Now

One of the big benefits of Google Now is getting travel time information to your next appointment.  It is really handing in planning your journey time as it takes into account things like travel time itself but also things like traffic on along your route thanks to its Google Maps integration.  That travel time can be adjusted depending on your mode of transportation:  Car, bike, bus or public transit or walking and, in some place, car sharing services like Uber.

There is another small but important feature that this service in Now offers and that is the ability to adjust your arrival time regardless of your transportation mode.  I, for example, generally like to be at a meeting place about 5 minutes before the actual start time of the meeting.  Old habits die hard, what can I say?  Within the travel time information in Google Now, you can adjust when you want to arrive at your destination which, in turn, adjust the time in which you need to leave.  In this How To, I’ll show you how to tweak this little feature so you can show up at the time you want to show up for your next appointment.

First, swipe over to the Google Now page on your Android phone that you have the Google Now Launcher installed and if you have enabled travel information and have an upcoming appointment that requires travel, you will see that information block on the page.  It should be in a dark grey block with “leave by

Tweaking Arrival Times in Google Now

XX:XX PM”.

By-the-way, if you haven’t enabled travel information in Now, you can do that by going to Google Now and tapping the hamburger menu, tap Settings then tap Now Cards.  Scroll down until you find the section “Commute and time to leave” and enable it.

You’ll see next to the “Leave by…” block there is a small down arrow.  Tap that and you will see a how you can change your mode of travel and your point of origin.  There is also a section for “Arriving”.  For this How To, that’s what we are interested in tweaking.  Pull down the menu and you will see a slider which will allow you to adjust your arrival time.  You can adjust it to arrive on time (which is the default setting) all the way up to 90 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the appointment.  Once you use the slider to adjust your arrival time, Google Now will automagically recalculate the time you need to depart to arrive at that new time.  It’s quick and simple but it is a bit hidden.

Now you know!

For other How To’s on Android, Chrome OS and Windows Phone, be sure to check out the How To section here on the site.