Google unveiled a handful of new tricks and tips for Google Assistant, including Google Clock integrations and better media controls on smart displays.
The update that seems the most useful is linking alarms to Google Assistant Routines. Routines are step-by-step chains of actions that Google Assistant can carry out through a key activation phrase.
With the upcoming update, alarms in the Google Clock app can now trigger a routine. Setting the alarm for 8am could wake you up, start playing music, start a smart coffee maker and turn on your smart lights to help force you out of bed.
In theory, this could be used to schedule Routines for other times of the day. If you have trouble going to bed every night, you could set a silent alarm that will automatically turn off the lights and tell you tomorrow’s weather report.
The update will also allow users to respond to assistant Broadcasts. It will enable you to say a message like ‘supper time’ into one Google Assistant-enabled device and anyone who receives the message can respond.
If the message comes through a phone, Google automatically transcribes the message so you can read it instead of trying to listen to it while you’re out and about.
If you have a JBL link smart display, then there’s an incoming update that will make it easier to control media playback on the device. Podcasts specifically are going to get a skip forward 30-second button and the option to adjust the playback speed, according to Android Authority.
These features should be rolling out over the next few weeks, according to Android Authority.
MobileSyrup has reached out to Google in case there are any Canadian-related clarifications.
Source: Android Authority
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