Google Assistant

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.

From November of last year to the first few months of 2021, Gboard tested “enhanced voice typing” on Pixel phones with the new Google Assistant. It was a rather wide beta that fulfilled the promise of what was shown off at I/O 2019. The capability was unceremoniously pulled, but “Assistant voice typing” looks to be finally launching with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.

Last month, we detailed Google’s work on a feature that lets you skip Assistant’s hotword for select commands. On phones, Assistant “Quick phrases” work differently and in a somewhat more limited manner.

At the start of August, the new Google Assistant lost its translucent/transparent UI. The original NGA design is back today on Pixel phones, though it’s not clear whether the look is here to stay.

One of the most capable Google Nest competitors is Arlo, which offers a lot of similar hardware and some of the best Google Home/Assistant integration out there. Now, Arlo is upgrading its Assistant integration with support for spoken alerts on speakers and smart displays.

Following iOS PiP and desktop download, YouTube is now testing the ability to “get suggestions for topics related to videos you’re watching” on Android that are powered by Google Assistant.