Google Assistant may not yet be available to all of us, at least from a universal device angle, but it’s pretty much accessible to anyone with Google’s chat app, Allo, installed.
Users can call upon Assistant’s indulgence during a conversation by simply typing @google in the chat and Google’s smart virtual assistant shows up ready to help. But that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. So Google is adding a small button (it is calling it a “shortcut”) in the message compose box that you press and voila! There is Google Assistant.
The change is rolling out to Android device users across the world as an update to Google Allo.
However, it is not the only new feature. There are a couple others that resemble it.
- Instead of having to just type @lucky followed by a desired GIF name in the message compose box to call up Google’s second Assistant bot, users will now have it even easier. “…just tap the smiley icon in the chat bar and swipe left to find the right GIF for your chat.”
- Lots of animated emojis. Lots and lots. “To animate your emoji, touch and hold the send button, and then drag up to see it come to life.”
