Google enables customised commands on Assistant

New York: Manufacturers have a reason to rejoice as Google announced the introduction of customised voice commands for third-party apps on Assistant.

With the latest update, Google will now allow companies to create custom commands when the Assistant is built into their products, The Verge reported.

At present, devices with Assistant built in are limited to a number of universal commands that Google has set up on its own, like "on," "off," and "dim." However, additional functionality can be added via other apps.

As per the report, Google suggested, for instance, that an oven manufacturer could use this ability to program voice controls for specific settings, like "set the oven to convection and preheat to 350 degrees." Therefore, while the firm could universalise that and have all ovens use the same commands, a manufacturer can now exercise additional control by voice.

In addition to this update, Google also announced that users can have specific Assistant-related actions sent to them as notifications on their phone, along with enhanced media playback abilities.

This update comes nearly two weeks after Google announced that by the end of 2018, Google Assistant will be able to understand and speak 30 languages, thus covering nearly 95 percent of Android users.

The tech giant also announced that its voice assistant will automatically detect the language each time a user speaks and responds in kind.