Keyboard input is finally here for Google Assistant

Google Assistant is getting a bunch of new updates today at Google I/O and one of the most requested features is finally here: keyboard input. Now, instead of only being able to communicate with Assistant with voice, you can also type your queries…

Now, when you launch Google Assistant on a smartphone, it will default to listening to your request via audio, but there is a keyboard icon that you can tap on. When you do this, it changes the Assistant’s behavior to allow keyboard input. After you type in your query, Google Assistant will reply visually on the screen.

We first saw code snippets hinting at the keyboard input back in January. Obviously, this was still a work in progress, but it’s good to see this functionality is rolling out now for Assistant on Android and iOS.

This is just one of the new input methods coming to Google Assistant. Make sure to read about Google Lens to learn more about Assistant’s new visual search tool.