The Google Assistant is getting a major update today, with the arrival of the Continued Conversation feature previewed at the company’s I/O conference last month.
As the name would suggest, the feature is designed to enable more natural conversations with Android phones, Home speakers and other Assistant-enabled devices.
Similar to Amazon’s “Follow Up” mode, Continued Conversations will leave a little room after your first interaction to make room for additional utterances. This means you won’t have to say “OK Google” again each time you want something.
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The idea is to create a flowing conversations with the Assistant that only end when the user says “thank you,” “stop” or once eight seconds have passed since the last question.
You’ll still have to say “Hey Google” or “OK Google” to start the interaction, but the conversation can go anywhere from there. In a blog post published on Thursday Google used the following example:
So next time you wake up and the skies are grey, just ask “Hey Google, what’s the weather today?”… “And what about tomorrow?”… “Can you add a rain jacket to my shopping list”… “And remind me to bring an umbrella tomorrow morning”…“Thank you!”
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Unfortunately, the launch isn’t coming to all devices in all territories just yet. As is standard, Google is bestowing Continued Conversation on English-speaking Google Home, Home Mini and Home Max users in the United States.
There’s no news yet when the Continued Conversation will roll out in the UK or Europe, but we’ll keep you posted.
Google is also boosting natural conversation with the Multiple Actions feature, which enables Assistant to understand more complex queries. For example, folks can ask “What’s the weather like in New York and in Austin?”
The company is also introducing Pretty Please, to encourage younger users to be well mannered and a host of new voices. We’re still waiting on that John Legend voice, Google…
Have you tried Continued Conversation yet? Share your early impressions with us @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
