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How to Enable or Disable Google Assistant on Your Android Device

How to Enable or Disable Google Assistant on Your Android Device

Leave a Comment / Google, how to, Tech Tips, Tech tips / By

Google Assistant has become an integral part of the Android experience, offering users with a hands-free way to control their devices, search the Internet, and manage their daily tasks. Whether you’re new to Android or a longtime user, understanding how to effectively manage Google Assistant can increase the functionality of your device. This article guides you through the process of turning Google Assistant on and off, as well as some tips for getting the most out of it.

Understanding Google Assistant

How to Enable or Disable Google Assistant on Your Android Device

Image Source: lifewire.com

The Google Assistant is voice-activated software that provides a conversational interface to Google’s search and organizational tools. From setting reminders and sending texts to controlling smart home devices, its capabilities are vast and constantly growing.

Turning On Google Assistant

Step 1: Check Device Compatibility

  • Ensure your Android device is running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher and has Google Play Services installed.

Step 2: Update Your Device

  • Go to Settings > System > Advanced > System Update to check for any available updates to ensure your device is running the latest version of its operating system.

Step 3: Open Google Assistant Settings

  • Long-press the Home button to activate Google Assistant or open the Google app, tap on “More” (three dots or lines) at the bottom right, go to “Settings,” and then select “Google Assistant.”

Step 4: Navigate to the ‘Assistant’ Tab

  • In the Google Assistant settings menu, tap on the “Assistant” tab to access various settings and preferences.

Step 5: Activate Google Assistant

  • Scroll down to “Assistant devices” and choose your device (e.g., Phone). Here, make sure the Google Assistant toggle is turned on.

Step 6: Set Up Voice Match (Optional)

  • For hands-free operation, you can set up Voice Match by finding this option in the “Assistant” tab. Follow the prompts to teach Google Assistant to recognize your voice.

Step 7: Test Google Assistant

  • Say “OK Google” or long-press the Home button to start using Google Assistant. Try asking a question or issuing a command to ensure it’s working correctly.

Turning Off Google Assistant

Step 1: Access Google Assistant Settings

  • Just like turning it on, access the Google Assistant settings by long-pressing the Home button or through the Google app.

Step 2: Go to the ‘Assistant’ Tab

  • Within the Google Assistant settings menu, select the “Assistant” tab to find the settings related to your devices.

Step 3: Find Your Device

  • Under “Assistant devices,” select your device (e.g., Phone) to access its specific settings.

Step 4: Disable Google Assistant

  • Toggle off the option for Google Assistant to disable it on your device. This will turn off Google Assistant’s ability to respond to voice commands or the Home button activation.

Also Read: Google Maps Introduces Cutting-Edge Generative AI Features

Conclusion

Google Assistant can significantly enhance your Android experience with its wide range of features. By following this guide, you can easily turn Google Assistant on or off depending on your preference. Experiment with its settings to customize its functionality to suit your needs.

The Rise of ChatGPT on Android: A New Challenger for Google Assistant

The Rise of ChatGPT on Android: A New Challenger for Google Assistant

Leave a Comment / Artificial Intellegence, Google, News, Tech News / By

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in mobile technology is nothing short of revolutionary, and the latest buzz in this area is the potential ease of using ChatGPT on Android devices. This development raises the question: could ChatGPT become a viable alternative to the well-established Google Assistant? Let’s look at this interesting possibility.

ChatGPT

The Rise of ChatGPT on Android: A New Challenger for Google Assistant

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is an AI-powered chatbot known for its conversational capabilities. It has evolved rapidly, demonstrating the ability to understand and answer complex questions with remarkable accuracy.

ChatGPT on Android: A New Era

Recent efforts to extend the usability of ChatGPT on Android mark a significant step forward. These improvements aim to make AI more accessible and user-friendly for the vast Android user base.

Google Assistant

The Rise of ChatGPT on Android: A New Challenger for Google Assistant

Google Assistant has been the go-to AI companion for Android users, deeply integrated into the ecosystem. It offers voice commands, smart home control, and personalized assistance.

Comparative Analysis: ChatGPT vs. Google Assistant

When it comes to features, both platforms have their strengths. ChatGPT excels in conversation depth and nuanced responses, while Google Assistant provides seamless integration with Android services.

Voice Assistance and AI Interaction

Voice command proficiency is critical for AI assistants. ChatGPT and Google Assistant both respond well to voice input, but their accuracy and speed can vary depending on the complexity of requests.

Personalization and Learning Curve

Personalization is important in AI technology. ChatGPT and Google Assistant both learn from user interactions, but their approaches are different. ChatGPT can provide a more customized conversation experience, while Google Assistant focuses on personalized service based on user data.

Integrating with the Android Ecosystem

ChatGPT’s compatibility with existing Android apps and services is critical to its success. Google Assistant, already integrated, provides a seamless user experience across various Android devices.

Offline Capabilities

Offline functionality is an important aspect of AI assistants. Currently, Google Assistant has the lead in this area, but ChatGPT’s advancements may close the gap in the future.

Privacy and Security Concerns

Data privacy is a major concern in AI. Both ChatGPT and Google Assistant take measures to protect user data, but their policies and implementation differ.

Potential Future Developments

The AI assistant market is growing rapidly. Predictions for ChatGPT and Google Assistant point to more intuitive, human-like interactions and broader functionalities.

The Impact on Android Users

The integration of ChatGPT into Android has implications for users, ranging from adopting new AI assistants to experiencing enhanced conversational interactions.

Also Read: Google’s Search Technology in the Legal Spotlight for Police Use

Expert Opinions and Analysis

Technical experts and analysts have different opinions on this development. Some see ChatGPT as a strong contender, while others believe that Google Assistant will maintain its dominance due to its deeper integration with Android.

Conclusion

The capabilities of ChatGPT on Android devices are immense, offering a new perspective on AI interactions. It remains to be seen whether it can replace Google Assistant, but the future of AI in mobile technology is undoubtedly exciting.

Google Tasks

Google is combining Google Tasks with Assistant and Calendar reminders

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Tech Giant, Google, is integrating Google Assistant and Calendar reminders in its Google Tasks App in its latest step of the application clean-up drive. The firm took this decision to make it seamless for users to manage their tasks and reminders from any of these three applications by unifying its to-do systems.

Google Tasks
Image Source: neowin.net

Currently, you can create several types of ‘reminders’ in the Google Assistant, Calendar, and Tasks apps. However, they are not utilized in the same way from every app or stored within all three.

As of now, Google Tasks, which was first released as a standalone application in 2018, operates in its box. Users can create tasks and subtasks as per their requirements. They can also set reminders in the iOS and Android apps using a side panel in Gmail or Google Drive on the web. Even though, those don’t get displayed on Assistant’s reminders. Besides this, Google Calendar has two distinct options to create tasks and reminders which could create confusion for users.

Google
is focusing on changing this with an update that will be launched in
the upcoming months. Once this feature is incorporated, it will
display in both the Tasks and Calendar lists when the user sets a
reminder with Google Assistant. They will also receive notification
for the task completion reminder at the set time.

All
they have to do is open the notification to move their reminders into
Google Tasks so that they can oversee all their to-do items in one
place. Google will question the users if they want to ‘try the new
Tasks experience’. When they tap on this notification, the user
will be allowed to move their currently existing reminders into the
Tasks application.

In
the coming months, Google claimed that the users will see a prompt to
try out this whole new integrated task experience when they use the
Calendar or Assistant application. To add to this, the firm will also
eliminate the Calendar reminders options once the transition is
completed.

“Soon, we’ll be simplifying our task management solutions by migrating Assistant and Calendar Reminders to Google Tasks. This means you will now have an easy way to view and manage all your to-dos in one place through Google Tasks, regardless of whether you create them using Assistant or Calendar,” the company said in a blog post.

Source: techcrunch.com

Product Manager, Ilya Brown wrote in a blog post, “We are continuing to invest in Google Tasks and expand its capabilities to help you capture, organize and accomplish all you have to get done. Moving reminders into Google Tasks is one step closer to helping people effortlessly get things done, and we are so excited to bring it to you.”

Source: metro.co.uk

What are Google Tasks?

You
have heard of the integration of the above-mentioned app. But do you
know what is tasks app and how it works? You might not know but it
will be home to your Google reminders soon. Well, here is the
detailed explanation below.

You
can utilize the tasks app to create a central to-do list when you are
using a particular Google app. If you are using Gmail or Sheets, you
can create a ‘task’ by tapping on a circled checkmark logo.

On your desktop, it will show a sidebar where you can fill in the details of your task like name, time, and date. Your new task will be generated after clicking on the ‘Save’ option.

Every
user initiates his Task experience with one task list by default
while you can create more if you find them helpful.

google assistant

Google all Set to Lose Legend-ary Voiced Assistant

Leave a Comment / Founder, Google, start-up, Tech News / By

Google is one of the world’s most recognized brands and is a tech-superstar due to its huge presence. We have all been helped by the search engine at some point in time in our lives. It answers everything from simple questions regarding words, to sports updates when we are stuck at work. Slowly, yet surely, the tech-giant has branched out into other ventures. With several highly successful applications like Google Maps, Google Keep and even their cloud-storage service Google Drive, the company has become an integral part of our lives. One major part of Google’s services is their voice assistant which helps us do tasks without actually touching the phone. We can use this assistant to run searches, open the camera or even call someone without lifting a finger. Since voice search is touted to be the next big thing in the years to come, Google has never spared any expense when it comes to developing its search interface.

Wonderful Marketing Strategy Behind Google Assistant

One seemingly brilliant way it has made the assistant more relatable and approachable is by replacing the usually robotic and monotonic voice, with the voice of someone we appreciate and love. Fans went crazy last year when Google announced that the new update would have the assistant upgrade to All of Me fame John Legend’s voice. However, the collaboration seems to have ended because the tech giant announced that the voice would be removed from March 23rd onwards. Here’s a look at how the unusual pairing came to be.

Unlikely Pairing

In case you got used to having John Legend pick up your chores and assist you in your everyday life, you might have to brace yourself for the news. The celebrity cameo will come to a stop on March 23rd, after almost a year of great service. News regarding John’s voice being added to the Assistant’s settings had come out last April, much to the delight of Google users around the world. Most people do not identify with or particularly like the robotic voice that is associated with voice assistants. John Legend, therefore, came as a whiff of fresh air to most users, but, unfortunately, the unlikely, yet successful pairing is coming to a close. But to be fair, Google had mentioned at the time of release that this would be a limited feature, though they had not specified the duration of the tenure.

The addition of Legend’s voice brought a lot of joy to the ears of users around the world, because it brought with it several Easter eggs, very specific to his personality. For instance, you could get a personalized Happy Birthday song, sung by Legend himself if you asked him to do so. Similarly, fans were greeted to a part of All of Me, anytime they mentioned or asked about Chrissy Teigen, who is his supermodel wife. However, it is not all bad news for users, since Google still offers comedian Issa Rae’s voice. But it would be best not to get used to her witty one-liners or sarcastic remarks because you never know when Google will take her off the list.

Special Surprises

While Google Assistant has featured celebrity voices for quite some time now, users might want to make the best of them while they still can. John Legend, however, will always be remembered for being the first celebrity to lend his voice virtually to a plethora of devices all around the world. The singer’s smooth voice, which is sinfully filled with emotion and grit was a huge hit with fans all across the United States.

Google announced the removal via a tweet that urged users to use Legend to the maximum in the time they have left and encouraged them to request more serenades from the crooner. However, though you might miss the Legend-ary voice, rest assured because the Assistant will continue to function the way it used to. The only problem being that you won’t be able to belt All of Me along with the singer himself without accessing YouTube. Also, let us hope that owing to the success of this new endeavor, Google keeps surprising us with new celebrity voices in the future.

Google Pixel

Google Pixel Fall Hardware Event 2019: What to Expect

Leave a Comment / Google, News, Product, Tech News / By

Tuesday is the day when Google will be hosting its annual fall hardware showcase event, and as all you know, the event will be finally launching the Google Pixel 4 and Google Pixel 4 XL smartphones. But other than that, the big event will also be revealing some of the major updates to the company’s existing products as well as the other new products.

Pixel 4 has already been in news, and the rumours have got us most of the information about the smartphone. According to the rumours, there are two sizes available in the phone, and it will be in three different colours, i.e. ‘just black’, ‘clearly white’, and ‘oh so orange’. One of the new changes to the new smartphone includes a second, 16-megapixel telephoto, camera lens. The camera will also include some of the new photography tricks in it, like an astrophotography mode that makes the night sky pictures even more magical by capturing the stars even clearer. One of the tricks also includes the “Motion Mode” that is specifically designed to take better action shots.

Google had been working on new radar motion sensors called Soli, which according to the rumours, the company will finally be installing in the smartphone. These sensors will make the smartphone do things only by sensing the user’s gestures, like swipes in the air for changing the song on the music application. There will also be a new face recognition feature that will allow the users to unlock the smartphone and in any orientation. Though the rumours have also claimed the Pixel 4 smartphones to be 5G supported, there is no indication from Google of the same, as it is still working on the technology and cannot launch it any sooner.

Google Pixel
Image Source: trustedreviews.com

Other than the smartphones, the company has made some improvements to some of its products. The Google Assistant has received the major updates and is being called as the ‘next-generation Google Assistant’. The new Google Assistant is ten times faster and will also be available on the Google Pixel 4 smartphones. So, the Assistant will be one of the major highlights of the event.

The company had introduced a Pixelbook laptop in 2017, and there had been no news on new Pixelbooks since then. But as the company had revealed at the beginning of this year that it is working on the next Pixelbook, there are high hopes that it will be showing off a new Pixelbook at the event. Believing the rumours, Pixelebook Go is the upcoming laptop, that may have a 13.3-inch touchscreen. According to a blogpost from 9to5Google, like the Pixel 4 smartphone, the Pixelbook may be in two colours ‘just black’, and ‘oh so orange’.

It is also expected that the company may give us some of its new Nest products. There is a possibility that the company may showcase a new mesh router system that will provide wifi connection to the various Google Home devices. There is another device called Nest Mini, that may attract people’s attention during the event, as it is a small smart speaker from Google that they can also hang on your wall.

Last but not least, one of the new products from Google is a pair of new Pixel Buds. There is not much information about the buds, but we expect them to be completely wireless this time. And according to a tweet from Android and Chrome chief Hiroshi Lockheimer, these new buds are incorporated with great sound quality, sweat proof, better battery with USB C charging port, and more.

So only one day left for the event, and we hope Google will bring even better features and products at the event.

nest max hub

Google to (may) Launch the Nest Max Hub in the Coming September

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Recently, Alphabet’s subsidiary smart home device maker was rebranded to Nest from Google Home, and in the last Google I/O 2019 event, the company announced a new and big Smart Display, i.e. Nest Max Hub. Well, the company has also mistakenly revealed the date of launch for the said product. The revealed date though was 9th of the coming Septemeber, but the company has just removed the date from its support page.

Previously the company had launched the Nest Hub, a 7” display, that opened the door to things like guided recipes, song lyrics, appointment calendars, etc. The brand new Smart Display from Google is 10” HD display and is empowered with Google Assistant.

This time, the company has also included Nest Cam to the display, such that if the user is away from home, and the Nest Cam captures any new faces, it alerts the user. For the alerts, the company has included the Nest Aware subscription service into the display. The camera uses the Face Match technology to identify faces and can recognize up to six people. For these six people, it then creates personalised settings, too.

nest max hub
Image Source: techhive.com

The camera offers a 127-degree field of view that covers a larger area. The display also lets the user scroll through the recording history. Having a camera on the display, the users can also make video calls through it using Google’s Duo app.

Having the assistance of the Google Assistant, the Smart Display can create personalised calendars for the users, and on their preferences, it can also incorporate new playlists.

Quick Gestures is another new feature added to the display, such that the user can control some of its apps through the hand gestures only. Like for the music, the user can ask the smart display to reduce or increase the volume through their hand’s gestures.

The new Smart Display has also inherited a few features from its previous version. Like Nest Hub, it will render built-in Chromecast and will also have access to Google Photos. It has also got a 2-channel speaker setup, that includes two tweeters and a woofer.

The Nest Max Hub is an all-in-one device that has been designed to serve almost every type of solutions to the user. According to the company’s keynote at the Google I/O conference, the Nest Max Hub, for users, is their kitchen TV, a security camera, a smart home controller as well as their Smart Display.

According to the announcement, the Smart Display will be first available in the U.S., UK and Australia. The price of the product has been set at around $299, which is a bit pricier than its ancestor. But based on the various specifications of the new Smart Display, it is quite a steal deal.