Google is trying to bring its Assistant smart assistant to almost all of your smart gadgets. The company recently introduced a wide range of updates to Assistant hardware and software as it continues to track down Amazon Alexa. And now, the company could be introducing a huge change to Assistant, starting with phones.
According to 9to5Google, recent versions of the Google app on Android includes a new, hidden code that lets users add their custom hotword for waking up their device. Right now, you can use either the “Hey Google” or “Ok Google” hotword to activate the assistant, with the latter being incredibly annoying to use as you continue to use Assistant more frequently. So instead of having to use these hotwords, you will soon be able to setup your own, custom hotword for waking up Assistant.
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You’ll need to train Assistant to be able to recognize your custom hotword, and chances are the accuracy of the hotword recognization won’t be as good as the default Hey Google and Ok Google hotwords. But still, it is something.
For now, though, it seems like Google will be bringing the feature first to phones, but it will most likely come to all devices running Assistant, especially the company’s Home smart speakers.
Bats
<p>How hard would it be for good Google Home to learn "Computer.". "Computer, what is the temperature outside?"</p>
Bats
<blockquote><a href="#241634"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>I would like to say "Computer, raise the thermostat to 5 degrees." Then Google Home would say, "Shall I raise the thermostat to 75 degrees." Then, I would say "Yes…..Engage!"</p>
Bats
<blockquote><a href="#241639"><em>In reply to Pbike908:</em></a></blockquote><p>It stores, but you can delete at anytime.</p>
Todd Northrop
<p>This is the best feature they could possibly add. Saying “OK Google” is a non-starter for me. Besides being a mouthful to say, I don’t want to say hello to an organization every time I make a request from my device. </p>
Bats
<blockquote><a href="#241705"><em>In reply to olavgm:</em></a></blockquote><p>That will be like living a lie. Lol.</p>
sdahnke1
<p>Harry. I want mine to be Harry.</p>