Google Assistant

Just last week, the Nest Hub Max was updated with another way to skip “Hey Google.” This currently only works for certain commands, but Google Assistant will eventually let you make custom Quick Phrases.

After first debuting on the Pixel 6 last October, Quick Phrases are now available on the Nest Hub Max to skip the “Hey Google” hotword when issuing commands and asking questions to Assistant.

With the Pixel 6 last October, Assistant debuted “Quick phrases” to skip the hotword for two specific actions, and you might soon be able to “silence” incoming calls.

Over the past day, Pixel owners are encountering a bug that sees Google Assistant always open keyboard input over voice entry, while those users are also seeing “TNG” at the bottom-left corner of their screen.

With Google Calendar set to lose Assistant Reminders, you’ll be forced to use the very basic and incredibly laggy UI that’s part of the Google app. It’s still bad, but Google recently rolled out some usability tweaks to Reminders and restored the dark mode.

Just over a year ago, Google Assistant swapped out the “What’s on my screen?” button with a Lens-branded shortcut that could now be replaced by “Search this screen.”

The first Samsung customers are beginning to receive the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro, and Google has some “important” advice for those that are having trouble getting Assistant for Wear OS up and running.

Wear OS 3 is finally on its way to other smartwatches, but its first new option is lacking a major feature. The Montblanc Summit 3 lacks support for Google Assistant entirely.

The saga continues this week, as Google has just filed a new lawsuit against Sonos just months after an unfortunate ruling that saw Sonos win and force Google to disable or break features for many of its products.

For quite some time now, Assistant has supported IFTTT, but Google is now warning people about “upcoming changes” to the third-party integration. Some functionality is being removed and all users need to set up IFTTT again.

“Look and Talk” for the Nest Hub Max launched at I/O 2022, and Google has now detailed how exactly the camera-based, “Hey Google” replacement works. 

Google Assistant smart speakers often only serve a couple of key purposes – to accept commands and play music. With Xiaomi’s new Google Assistant smart speaker, you also get the power to control your TV and other electronics through an IR transmitter.

This morning, an outage affected Google Weather across Android, Google Assistant, and more, that made it unable to show your local forecast.

As early as 2018, Google had been readying an Assistant-adjacent feature that supercharges saving and reminders on Android. It now appears that Google is no longer working on “Assistant Memory” as the company’s reminders strategy becomes ever more muddled. 

Stealing packages is an unfortunate problem nowadays, and one that just seems to be getting worse for some. While there are defenses, such as baiting bad actors with glitter bombs, an even better solution is to keep packages in a secure place. That’s what Yale’s Google Assistant-connected smart delivery box tries to do.

All of Google’s major consumer platforms, like Android and ChromeOS, allow for third-party developers. In the case of Assistant, Google is making a change to focus on Android and will essentially no longer allow third-party voice experiences – including apps and games with visual interactions – on Smart Displays or speakers.

Last week we reported that Android Auto for Phone Screens is set to die off in the very near future, leaving Google Assistant Driving Mode as the only path forward for Android users looking for a car-friendly user interface. While Google often kills products in a way that’s necessary to build something better, it’s pretty hard to see that argument this time around.

There are plenty of people out there who use Android Auto on their phones. After all, it’s an alternative to what can sometimes be an expensive Android OS for your vehicle. Unfortunately, that Android app has been deemed “totaled” by Google. This guide will give you the rundown on Google Assistant’s “Driving Mode,” a capable replacement for Android Auto on mobile.

Beyond a dark theme in September, Assistant reminders are rarely updated and Google is now getting rid of the ability to “set reminders at locations.”