Google Assistant

For many, the best use of Google Assistant on Android and Home is to control smart appliances, ask questions, and issue commands. However, the company has also been hard at work building an app ecosystem — just like the Play Store — through Actions on Google. At I/O 2017, Google announced a Developer Challenge and the winners are now in.

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As we move forward into December, we are quickly approaching the holiday season. As it’s 2017, there are applications and smart home products that can help you not only get into the holiday spirit but also help you control your decorations using your phone and Google Assistant. Here are just a handful of apps and products to help you make it through the festivities…

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Last month, Google expanded its Experiments program with a new category for voice interactions to demonstrate how developers can take advantage of conversations. Usually app-based, the latest Voice Experiment is physical and involves paper crafts that signal a data point.

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Google Assistant is a very powerful tool, but its real power will be unlocked by developers working with the platform. Recently, eBay has jumped on board the Assistant bandwagon, bringing some welcome functionality to Assistant on your phone and smart speakers.

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Google Assistant has added a number of useful features in recent weeks. The latest is now the ability to find and contact various local services from Android, iOS, or Google Home.

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Have you ever given Google Home a command and then immediately turned around to give it another? I do this on a pretty regular basis for things like controlling lights and playing media on Chromecast. Now, Google is making this easier by accepting multiple commands at once.

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Google I/O 2017 happened over half a year ago at this point, and a ton was announced at the company’s annual developer conference. A lot of that surrounded Google Assistant, and Google Home in particular. However, most of the things announced at I/O still haven’t arrived, so what gives?

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Following last week’s announcement, Google Lens began widely rolling on Monday to Assistant on Pixel and Pixel 2 phones. In a teardown of the Google app yesterday, we spotted that Lens was working on adding the previously announced translation feature, among several others. Today, that functionality is starting to rollout to Google Lens.

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While the latest Google Voice update does not feature many notable visible changes, the messaging app is working on exciting functionality. Namely, version 5.6 hints that you may soon be able to send messages using the Ok Google/Assistant hotword.

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The latest version of the Google app is rolling out this morning and it comes with another redesign of Assistant settings. Version 7.17 also reveals some sort of syncing feature with Chrome, upcoming Google Lens functionality, and more.

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Last Tuesday, Google announced that Lens would be widely rolling out to Assistant on Pixel and Pixel 2 devices over the coming weeks. This Monday morning, several reports note that the visual search feature is now more widely available.

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Google Assistant is capable of a lot of cool tricks, but it’s still limited in some areas. Now, as Android Police points out, Google is adding some welcome functionality to Assistant speakers.

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Over the weekend, several Pixel and Pixel 2 owners noticed that Google Lens was now available on their devices. Today, Google officially announced the rollout of visual search assistant and that it would be talking place over the coming weeks.

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For the past few teardowns of the Google app, we’ve spotted a Calendar setting among Google Assistant’s list of services. This control is now beginning to rollout and allows users to manage Google Calendar, but only on Google Home speakers.

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Back in October, several Googlers noted that Google Lens would be coming to Assistant “in the next few weeks.” On Friday evening, the first users have spotted the visual search feature up and running on their Pixel and Pixel 2 phones.

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Google has been working hard over the past year to push Google Assistant in as many places as possible. Between smart speakers, basically every phone on the market, and even laptops, the Assistant is in a ton of places. Recently, it’s been extending to headphones, and just in time for the Pixel 2 to ditch the headphone jack, Google has debuted the first earbuds with Assistant built-in, the Pixel Buds.

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Google Assistant can do a lot of powerful things, and thanks to new gestures, it’s easier to get to than ever on the Pixel 2. Now, Google has quietly added a way to make troubleshooting your Pixel 2 easier with the help of the Assistant.

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With last week’s redesign, the Google Assistant gained an updated interface on Android. Today, a refreshed look that we previously activated is also coming to the Explore tab, along with a number of other changes to improve both Assistant app discovery and functionality.

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