Remind your loved ones to do things with Google Assistant

It's a tool as much as any other that could be useful or harmful (or possibly annoying, in this case). Google has started rolling out the ability to use Assistant to send reminders to your friends and family. These reminders can be scheduled based on time of day or location. And the ones you send reminders to will receive them through their mobile phones or a Google Assistant-powered Smart Display. It's designed mainly for families, but it can also work for close friends and roommates. The goal isn't to use it as a means to nag your loved ones with ridiculous requests. It is meant to send important reminders, and to work as a way to encourage them ahead of big or small events (or even just to make them laugh or feel loved). That said, Google claims there will be a block function but it's more for not allowing kids to spam their parents. (We think it should also work the other way around.)

To send reminders to someone, they need to be part of a group of trusted fellow Assistant user and it'll mainly function via the Family Group feature. You need to create a Family Group at families.google.com to both manage the reminders, and so that it works for families who don't live in the same household. You can also use the multi-account system of a Smart Display or speaker with Assistant built-in, but Voice Match needs to be turned on. As for sending reminders, the person you're sending a reminder to needs to be in your Google Contacts list. And for children under the age of 13 to access this feature, the parents will need to create a privacy-compliant account through Google's Family Link platform. They then need to pair that account and the child's voice to a Google Home speaker.

To set up an Assignable Reminder, you can ask your Assistant something like, "Hey Google, remind Greg to take out the trash at 8 pm." The recipient will then get the reminder on their phones and Smart Displays at the time you set.

Google is first rolling it out over the next few weeks in English on phones, speakers, and Smart Displays in the US, UK, and Australia. It'll work with the Google Nest Hub Max and the new Google and Nest co-branded Smart Display starting in the fall.

Source: The Verge