Google Home and Assistant gets French Canadian language support

Ahead of Monday’s launch for Google Home, Google adds French Canadian as a language option for Assistant and by extension Google Home. You can select the option on the control app or try telling Assistant to switch. According to The Android Soul, you can just say “Ok Google, speak to me in French Canadian.” Some of the other languages that will be supported in the future include Brazilian-Portuguese, Japanese, German, Italian, Korean, and Spanish.

Source: Engadget

Alarm.com can now lock and unlock doors with Google Assistant

Alarm.com adds a whole bunch of features into its ecosystem with its latest update. Taking part in the Actions on Google platform, Alarm.com users can now add their system to Google Assistant’s Assistant apps section. One way you can activate this is by saying, “OK Google, talk to Alarm.com.” Once you’ve authenticated the credentials, you’ll get a lot of features to work with.

These include being able to lock and unlock doors and garage doors, arm and disarm security systems, change thermostat temperature, control individual or grouped lights, and even ask about the state of any light, lock, or thermostat connected to the site. For those concerned about security, Alarm.com provides an optional setting for a 4-digit PIN code you’ll need to say to perform these potentially compromising actions. If you want a more direct approach to controlling your devices at home, you can also download the Alarm.com app.

Source: Android Police

Google Assistant now lets you type out your queries

You saw it show up on Google Assistant for iOS. Now, it’s also making its way to Android. If your Assistant-equipped phone updated, you should see that there’s a new keyboard icon at the bottom left corner of the screen. Up top on the right you’ll also see a blue icon which has two new sections: Explore and Your Stuff. Explore shows you the capabilities of Assistant and what you can do with it. Meanwhile, Your Stuff houses some stuff similar to Google Now, including your calendar and reminders, what’s on your shopping list, and a new Shortcuts feature. The last one, lets you automate things on your own with select phrases. For example, if you say the words “Workout time,” you can then prompt it to play workout music on Google Play Music.

Source: Droid Life

Google Assistant is now officially on iOS

At the Google I/O developer conference, the company made it official that Google Assistant is now on iOS. But with API restrictions, it can’t be interchangeable with Siri. Instead, it comes as a separate app, which you can put as a widget on your screen. It can do the usual stuff like send iMessages, play a song on your Spotify app (not on Apple Music), look up your schedule on Google Calendar, and check something in another language, among other things. But with the abovementioned restrictions, it can’t set alarms. The app does have a drawer icon of sorts that shows you what it can do for you. Google Assistant on iOS is first launching in the US. 

Source: CNBC + The Verge