Android devices running Marshmallow and Nougat are now receiving Google Assistant, an intelligent personal assistant that can sustain conversations. Google Assistant is also expected to make its way into Apple’s iOS devices soon.
Google Assistant was initially exclusive to Pixel and Pixel XL handsets but is now supporting 32 percent of Android phones (or 500 million Android handsets) in the market, AndroidCentral reported from Google’s official announcement of the virtual assistant on YouTube. That includes the latest handsets from Huawei, LG, Sony and Motorola, among others. Android Wear 2, Google Home, Android TV and Android Auto will receive the functionality, too.
Users don’t need to seek approval from phone manufacturers and carriers to have Google Assistant. They only need to long press their device’s home button to activate it — a process similar to Google Now’s.
Android owners, however, need to have the latest version of Google Play services (APK v. 10.2.98 or higher) to get the new feature. The rollout will continue throughout this week, so don’t worry if you still don’t have the virtual assistant as of this moment.
For those of you who don’t know the exact Google Play services version that your Android device needs, download Play Services info or check out your handset’s Settings – Apps – Google Play services. Once there, take note of the three-digit sequences enclosed in the parentheses.
Play Services info is an app created by a third-party developer called Weberdo. The app displays the version of Google Play services running on your device, and also indicates if there’s a new version available for download. The new version is shown via a link to APK mirror or Google Play.
iOS users who want another virtual assistant aside from Siri can also get Google Assistant. Gummi Hafsteinsson, Google’s product management director, hinted at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this week that they are planning to deeply integrate the feature to iPhones. Hafsteinsson didn’t exactly confirm the company’s plans, but shared that they want the functionality to become “available to as many people as possible, AppleInsider reported.
Google Assistant is already available — albeit in a limited capacity — in iOS devices via the Allo app. It’s possible that the virtual assistant will be added to the iPhone‘s official Google app, but anything more than that will likely be blocked by Apple.
Do you have Google Assistant on your device? How’s it going so far? Sound off in the comments section below.
