Google's voice-based digital assistant is branching out and getting smarter.
Google on Friday announced that the routines feature it first tipped last year will be rolling out to Assistant over the next week. This new feature will help you take care of several tasks with a single command.
"For example, say 'Hey Google, I'm home' and the Assistant on your Google Home or phone can turn on the lights, share any home reminders, play your favorite music and more, all with just four words," Google Vice President of Product Nick Fox wrote in a blog post. When it launches, you'll be able to set up routines in your preferences.
Meanwhile, those with Google Assistant on their phone can already set location-based reminders, and now this feature is headed to smart speakers as well. Google gave an example on how they can work together:
"Want to make sure you pick up the milk at the grocery store? All you have to do is ask the Assistant on your smart speaker, like Google Home—and when you get to the store, the Assistant on your phone will remind you," Fox wrote.
Plus, Google Assistant is learning a bunch of new languages. By the end of the year, Google expects it to work in more than 30 languages, up from 8 today.
"In the next few months, we'll bring the Assistant to Danish, Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Norwegian, Swedish and Thai on Android phones and iPhones, and we'll add more languages on more devices throughout the year," Fox wrote.
Assistant is also becoming "multilingual," which should be helpful for individuals and families who'd like to speak more than one language around the software. "With this new feature, the Assistant will be able to understand you in multiple languages fluently," Fox wrote. "If you prefer to speak German at work, but French at home, your Assistant is right there with you."
Google expects to launch the multilingual feature later this year with support English, French, and German, followed by more languages over time.
The internet giant also said new Assistant integrations are coming to devices from LG, Sony, and Xiaomi as well as through carriers like Sprint, Koodo, Telus, and Vodafone.