It's been nearly a year since Google eased restrictions regarding what devices can use the Google Assistant. As a result, the personal assistant has been adopted by people from all around the world but there's still plenty of work to do to reach even more potential users.
As Nick Fox, Vice President of Product at Google, notes in a recent blog post, the Google Assistant is currently available in eight languages - English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese (Brazil). By the end of the year, however, it'll be available in more than 30 languages including Danish, Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Norwegian and Swedish, effectively blanketing 95 percent of all eligible Android phones worldwide.
The Google Assistant will also gain multilingual support later this year, making it even easier for families or individuals that speak more than one language to use it. This feature will first be available in English, French and German, we're told, with additional languages set to be added over time.
Google next week will also flip the switch on Routines, a feature first announced late last year. With Routines, you'll be able to use simple voice commands to accomplish all sorts of "routine" tasks. For example, on your way home from work, you could say, "Ok Google, let's go home," and your Assistant can rattle off traffic updates, text your partner to let them know you are on the way and start playing your favorite podcast. Once home, simply say, "Ok Google, I'm home," and it'll adjust the temperature of your connected thermostat, share reminders, turn on the lights and more.
Speaking of reminders, in the coming weeks, you'll also be able to set location-based reminders using your smart speaker. Need to pick up milk at the grocery store? Just ask Assistant on your speaker and when you get to the store, the Assistant on your phone will remind you.