Google Assistant feature update brings smarter food orders, new Routines
Recognition: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
- Google Assistant receives the Spring Feature Update this week.
- The assistant can now find your phone, optimize take-away orders, and much more.
Google Assistant is preparing for the new season with a short list of new features. Google promises the changes will help us do small house and car tasks more effectively.
If you tend to place your phone incorrectly, now is the time to ask your Nest smart speaker or hub where it’s located. “Hey Google, find my phone” now also works with iPhones. iPhone users must sign up to receive notifications and critical warnings from the Google Home app in order to activate the feature.
Once you’ve found your phone, now is the time to speed up grocery orders too. The Google Assistant can automatically complete payment and contact information for grocery orders from select restaurant chains in the United States. The feature initiated by Google Duplex requires that a grocery order be placed through the Google app. When you click Check Out, Duplex will start autofilling payment and contact information from Chrome.
Improvements to Google Assistant routines
Changes to Google Assistant routines are also coming in. There are now “Sunrise” and “Sunset” events for routines that are triggered when the sun rises or sets in a specific location. You can use the Sunset Routine to turn on your external smart lights, or the Sunrise Routine to play your favorite alarm track.
The wizard also improves the bundled routine commands, making it easier to perform multiple tasks with a single prompt. There’s also a new section with pre-built routines suggesting more common actions to take to explore the feature. Finally, like any other app icon, users can pin their preferred routines to the home screen through the Google Home app.
Google is also turning the assistant into a valuable source of information on coronavirus. Users can get vaccine information, lists of vaccine locations, and other COVID-19 related information right from the wizard. Users can ask about specific vaccines or ask questions that are available in their area. This is an addition to the COVID-19 queries already set up by Assistant.
All of the new features of the Google Assistant will be available on Android and iOS devices in the coming week.
