Google Assistant for Android can now open and search apps

Google announced Thursday that its voice assistant can now open and search through some of the most popular apps available for Android phones.

That means you can now do more specific things with the Google Assistant in addition to opening an app. You can ask her to open Walmart and find fishing rods to buy, message on Snapchat, or order food on Postmates.

It’s the latest way for Google to make the Google Assistant more powerful against rivals like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, but I also think it’s one of the ways Google is trying to get people to search more by voice, and it could help you better understand how people shop on their phones.

At launch, there are 30 popular apps that support the new features, including Walmart, Spotify, Snapchat, Dunkin ‘Donuts, Twitter, Nike Run Club, Instagram, Nike Adapt, Reddit, Mint, and Discord. He says there will be more apps with custom commands soon, and any developer can add custom queries. But Google told CNBC that almost every Android app this week will work for search. So, for example, I was able to ask the Google Assistant to search for laptops in the Best Buy app.

I like that now I can say “Ok Google, order Dunkin ‘Donuts iced coffee” and get the ball rolling on an order, but it doesn’t go beyond opening the iced coffee page and still won’t let me place the pickup order or delivery. Similarly, you can look for a fishing pole at Walmart, but you can’t say “OK, buy that one.” For those tasks, you still need to pick up your phone. And for now, it’s hard to know which apps support the new voice commands and which don’t. You have to check a settings menu within the Google Assistant to find out.

Apple allows something similar on the iPhone with Siri shortcuts.

These are commands that developers can embed into applications and can then speak to open and execute specific actions in an application. So on an iPhone, for example, you can ask an app like TripIt to show you the details of your next trip.

However, there is a difference between how Google and Apple implement the link. After installing an application, you can simply say something like “watch news on Twitter” and Google will open Twitter and show you the latest news. With Siri, you must first configure the commands.

You can see the commands supported by the apps on your Android phone by saying, “Ok Google, show my shortcuts.”

Some applications allow you to simplify the commands. Nike Adapt lets you use your voice to automatically adjust the laces of Nike Adapt shoes, for example. Instead of using the default “Ok Google, squeeze my shoes with Nike Adapt”, you can choose to say something simpler, like “Ok Google, put my shoes on.”

Here are some examples that Google provided that work now. If you have the apps installed, these commands should work right away:

• Discord: “Hey Google, message Rachel on Discord”
• Etsy: “Ok Google, search for candles on Etsy”
• MyFitnessPal: “Ok Google, please register a berry smoothie on MyFitnessPal”
• Mint: “Ok Google, check my Mint accounts”
• Nike Adapt: ​​”Ok Google, tighten my shoes with Nike Adapt”
• Nike Run Club: “Ok Google, start my career with Nike Run Club”
• Postmates: “Ok Google, order a smoothie at Postmates”
• Snapchat: “Ok Google, send snap with Cartoon Lens”
• Spotify: “Ok Google, search Motivation Mix on Spotify”
• Twitter: “Ok Google, check the news on Twitter”
• Walmart: “Ok Google, when will my Walmart order arrive?”