Siri rival Google Assistant received a major update today across the Google Home speaker ecosystem with a feature Google revealed at I/O in May, called `Continued Conversation.` Now, when you speak to Google Assistant and wake it up with a `Hey Google` or `OK Google` phrase, you don`t need to repeat the phrase again for a follow-up request.
For example, you can ask `Hey Google, what`s the weather today?`, and then follow up with `And what about tomorrow?` or `Can you remind me to bring an umbrella tomorrow morning?` When your thread of requests is finished, Google explains that you can say `thank you` or `stop` to end the conversation, but Google Assistant will also do this automatically if it detects you`re no longer talking to it.
Continued Conversations will need to be turned on in the Google Assistant app`s Settings > Preferences > Continued Conversation. When starting up a new conversation you`ll still need to say `OK Google` or activate a physical trigger every time, but the company hopes that reducing the instances you need to speak a wake-up phrase will result in more fluid and natural interactions with Google Assistant.
In comparison, Apple`s Siri still requires you to say `Hey Siri` every time a command is given, or by activating the AI assistant manually on iPhone or HomePod. Later this year, Apple will debut improvements to Siri in iOS 12 in the form of a new `Siri Shortcuts` feature, allowing iPhone owners to build customizable workflows and connect a variety of third-party apps and services under one voice command.
Siri remains one of the downsides for Apple`s products for some users, with a recent survey finding that iPhone X early adopters were very satisfied with all features of the smartphone except Siri. Around the time of that survey, The Information reported that Siri has become a `major problem` within Apple and that the assistant remains `limited compared to the competition,` including Amazon Alexa and Googl ...
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