You can now teach Google Assistant to say your name right

If you don't want Google Assistant to butcher your name or the name of your loved ones, there's a new feature for the virtual assistant that will allow you to teach it how to say your name. 

The setting is buried a bit in the Google app. Head to Settings and then Google Assistant. Afterwards, scroll down and find the You badge. Under the Basic Info option, tap on Nickname. There should be an entry there for what Google Assistant should call you. When you edit that, you can choose to listen to how Google pronounces your name or record one of your own. The feature is limited to English for now, and Google has just started rolling it out this week, so you may or may not see it yet.

Source: Gizmodo

Google experiments with allowing Assistant to operate without the 'Hey Google' prompt

Photo by Arthur Osipyan/Unsplash

Google is testing out a feature on the Android app that might let you bypass saying "Hey Google" to activate Assistant. Android Police spotted a new "Guacamole" menu in the Assistant settings, enabling you to skip the usual hotword for "help with quick tasks" like answering calls and stopping alarms. AP pointed out that the Google Nest Hub has a similar feature for alarms since 2019. 

When it goes live, you'll supposedly get to opt-in by reading terms and conditions before activating it. We say supposedly because the feature isn't live yet. We expect to hear more about it at Google's I/O conference next month. 

Google Assistant lets you interact with your phone even when it's locked

Source: Google

One of the simpler yet useful updates Google recently introduced to Android will allow you to use your phone even when it's locked. To use Google Assistant when your device is locked, you'll need to turn on Lock Screen Personal Results in your Google Assistant settings page.

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Google Assistant's design update brings Pixel light bar to all Android devices

A new update to Google Assistant brings a design element familiar to Pixel users to all other Android phones. You may or may not have noticed that the Pixel light bar is showing up on non-Pixel phones. When you activate Assistant by pulling it up from the bottom, you'll see light streaming in from the lower sides of your phone as the Assistant slider pulls up. 

The Snapshot feed can be launched from the bottom-left corner, while the keyboard input on the right (which also features a new design). The new look also gets rid of the center pill. And as you issue commands, the light bar pulsates. It doesn't seem to be limited to users enrolled in the Google beta app.

Source: 9to5Google