Google Assistant joins Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Samsung's Bixby and Microsoft's Cortana in the lineup of digital assistants that can understand your voice and respond to commands or questions. Google Assistant powers Google Home and is also available as an app for smartphones and tablets.
Google Assistant – What You Need to Know
While Google Assistant shares some features with the assistants mentioned above, Google's version is more conversational, meaning you can ask follow-up questions if you need more information. Google Assistant is built into the Google Pixel line of devices, the Android TV streaming platform, and Google Home, the smart home hub.
The Google Assistant app is available for devices running Android 7.0 (Nougat) or later. Update your operating system if necessary, then visit the Google Play Store to download the app.
To launch Google Assistant, you can either long-press your device's Home button or say, "Hey Google" or "Okay Google." Normally, you only need to do this the first time you open a conversation with the Assistant; improvements to the original Assistant include a feature that lets you ask multiple questions within the same request. Once the interaction ends, however, you'll need to say "Okay Google" or "Hey Google" again to start a new session.
