Galaxy Watch 4 owners have been waiting for Google Assistant since Samsung launched the wearable with just Bixby last year, and support is now officially launching today.
Google gave the first official look at Assistant running on Galaxy Watch 4 in February. There’s a new design that takes after the Pixel phone experience. Launching with “Hey Google” opens a fullscreen UI with black background and four-color light bar at the bottom that reacts to voice input.
The Assistant logo also briefly appears with a “Hi, how can I help?” prompt, while the time appears curved at the top. Besides that, the results UI has also been modernized with background blur leveraged throughout.
Starting today, Galaxy Watch4 users will also be able to download Google Assistant on their devices gaining access to fast, more natural voice interactions, quick answers to questions and on-the-go help.
Compared to what was previously available on Wear OS 2, Google touts “faster than ever response times.” From our brief usage today, voice transcription seems to be processed on-device and appears near instantaneously. Available actions include:
- Manage your time, “start a timer”, “set an alarm”, “set reminders”
- Keep in touch with family and friends, “start a call”, “send a message”
- Control your smart home, “turn on bedroom light”
- Get your questions answered, “where is the nearest coffee shop?”, “how’s the weather today?”
Before vs. after
Curiously, Galaxy Watch 4 users are simply asked to update a new “Assistant” app that appears in the Google Play > My apps list. (You can also search for it in the on-watch Play Store.) After downloading the latest version, Google Assistant will appear as a new icon in the app launcher.
Launching prompts you to “Activate Google Assistant on your watch,” with users directed to their phone to complete the fairly lengthy process.
- Activate Google Assistant.
- Access your Assistant with “Hey Google” and agree to Voice Match.
- Saving audio is your choice.
- Gets personal results on your watch.
- Talk to your Assistant with a button.
In addition to the app icon and hotword, Assistant can be activated via hardware key: Settings app > Advanced features > Customize keys. It appears under “Double press” or “Press and hold” of the Home key. You can enable/disable “Hey Google” and “Speech output” in Settings > Google > Assistant.
Google Assistant will be available in 10 markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, The UK and USA. It will, also, support 12 languages, which include Danish, English (American, Canadian, United Kingdom, Australian, Irish), Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French (Canadian, France), and Taiwanese.
With this launch, Google has finished rolling out all but one of the new/updated first-party apps (YouTube Music, Google Pay, and Maps) announced alongside Wear OS 3 at I/O last year. Fitbit will debut on the Pixel Watch this fall.
More on Google Assistant:
- Assistant in Chrome, powered by Duplex, can now auto-change stolen passwords
- Google Assistant adds settings for ‘Your vehicles’ parking feature
- Nest Hub Max rolling out ‘Look and Talk’ for Google Assistant – here’s how to turn it on
- You can connect Fitbit & Google Fit with Assistant, but not yet live on Nest Hub
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