Google has come up with a new application which might help people understand their locality well. In a tech event held in Mumbai, Google announces the launch of the new application. Neighborly, a mobile application is a design to help you understand your neighborhood by asking it from other residents. With Tez, Google Aero, Google Station being India specific app, Google is trying to release applications which are focus primarily on Indian users. Thus, the people who enter into a new locality can understand it easily. People can know about the local facilities and services within the locality from the people who reside there. The application is available in beta mode for the residents of Mumbai only for now.
How The Application Works?
The application lets you ask questions through text or voice in English or 8 different Indian languages. Since the cities keep on changing, it is difficult to keep track of the surroundings specifically. Knowing the information about the locality from the residents itself will provide accurate information. Knowing about the locality from the residents will be useful for the people who are new to it.
The residents can simply swipe through the questions and answer whichever they can. Security of the users is kept in mind as their personal information is not shared with others. However, the people can still see the profile picture and the first name. This can be productive instead of those irritating WhatsApp groups which are always flooded with the Good wishes messages.
For making the application more attractive, rewards are given to the most helpful neighbors by awarding them batches. Similar to the local guide initiative in Google Maps, exclusive community events will be held to make it more interactive for the people living in there.  Whenever a user joins the Neighbourly app, they are requested to take the ‘Neighbourly Promise’ which requires them ‘To be civil and improve the neighborhood’.
- Must Read:Â 10 Mistakes that may get you to ban by WhatsApp
- Must Read: How Dangerous Is Using VPN?
How To Use The Application?
As of now, Google has launched the beta version of the application only for the residents of Mumbai. However, people residing in other cities can join the waitlist expansion. If you have a phone with Android 4.3 or above you can install the 7 MB application from the Play Store. The application works in offline mode too. Moreover, the application covers local train perimeter and thus divides the city into various locals like Bandra East, Bandra West etc. The residents are allowed to ask questions which are hyper-local only. For example, a person in Bandra East cannot ask a question about Colaba. Suppose the person changes his location and asks the question, it will still be answered by locals of Bandra East only. Google also urges people to rate the hotels and the businesses present in the locality.
Verdict
It should be noted that in spite of being a California based company, Google is trying to establish itself in India. Josh Woodward, Product Manager of Google said in an interview that, “Google started with connecting people to the web and it is continuing on the same path. Our life mostly happens within the 1 KM radius. With neighborly, people will be able to connect with them easily”. However, in the beta version, some of the localities of Mumbai are not included currently but people can sign up for the beta version. They will be notified when the app is available for them.
