Google Assistant

For two products that should be very important to Google, Assistant and Lens had a quiet 2021 compared to even the year prior. Fortunately, the lack of movement seems to be due to upcoming advancements being not quite ready yet.

Just like last year, we’ve put together an end-of-year recap of all the major features that Google Assistant and Google Home launched in 2021.

There are dozens of Google Assistant speakers and displays out on the market today, but most really just serve that one purpose of being a voice assistant with some music and/or video features. In 2019, Lenovo debuted its Smart Clock which was specifically designed with your bedroom in mind, and this year, it has a successor. For the past several weeks I’ve been using the Lenovo Smart Clock 2 with its wireless charging dock, and it evolves the original’s formula to be an even better fit for the bedside.

One of the best features of the new Assistant is Continued Conversation, where your Pixel’s microphone briefly stays open after a response has been given to allow follow-ups. For the past week or so, Continued Conversation on all Google phones, including the Pixel 6, has been broken.

With the busyness of the holidays, it’s easy to lose track of all the things that need to be done, both at home and while out and about. To help keep everyone on track, the Google Assistant’s “Family Bell” feature is now available on Android phones.

As a part of its latest Android announcements, Google is announcing new features for Android Auto. Rolling out soon, Android Auto will add support for touchscreen-based quick replies for message notifications.

Assistant Snapshot carries forward the legacy of Google Now, though its prominence is diminished compared to the previous feed. Its standing might be further de-prioritized following a pair of worrisome changes to Snapshot in the Google app and Assistant.

Some Pixel 6 owners have found their phone spontaneously placing calls to contacts, and Google Assistant may be to blame. Here’s how to fix the issue.

In November of 2019, Google upgraded Assistant’s “play me the news” capability with personalized audio digests. Google Assistant has now removed “Your News Update” and gone back to only offering standard sources. 

Google Home devices have long let users place phone calls with just their voice. An upcoming Assistant change will restrict that calling capability to numbers saved in your Google Contacts. 

Google’s 2021 Smart Home Developer Summit today sees a number of developments around Matter, including Android support via Play services. The announcements start with “Google Home” now serving as the name for the company’s entire smart home platform, developer program, and tools.

Since launching in 2019, the new Google Assistant (NGA) has let users issue commands much faster in a back-to-back, as well as offline, manner. The Pixel 6 brings that capability to Gboard for an “Assistant voice typing” experience that is an appreciable upgrade.

After years of neglect, Wear OS is finally getting a boost this year with the Wear OS 3 upgrade, now available on the Galaxy Watch 4. However, the older Wear OS hardware is still in limbo, and for many, some of Google Assistant’s core functions are not working as intended.

In late August, Google rolled out a pair of new features for Assistant Routines. Google’s Home and Away Routines for smart home devices now has a new arrive/leave location trigger.

With Android 12, the “Android Auto for Phone Screens” experience is going away in favor of Google Assistant. That transition is happening for more users as of late, while Assistant Driving Mode can now auto-launch when it connects to your vehicle’s Bluetooth.

UV Index data was added to the Wear OS Weather app back in April. Sometime in the past few months – if not weeks – Google Assistant started showing UV Index across all its platforms.