Google on Wednesday launched some new skills for Google Assistant, the AI-powered assistant found across devices. It’s also encouraging Google Assistant users to set up “routines,” which perform multiple actions with a single command.
The most notable new Google Assistant skill is the ability to find your iPhone, even when the device is on silent or Do Not Disturb is enabled. The “find my phone” feature is already one of the most popular Google Assistant features. It works on Nest smart speakers and other smart displays. To use it to find your iPhone, you have to opt in to receiving notifications and critical alerts from the Google Home app.
Next, Google Assistant users can find the AI tool to complete online food orders. The feature only works with restaurants that have added an “order” button to their Google Business Profiles on Search and Maps.
After a customer hits the “order” button from the Google App on Android, they choose from the menu and hit “check out.” At that point, Google Assistant can take over, automatically filling in the customer’s contact and payment details, based on what’s saved in Google Pay and synced to Chrome Autofill. Google is initially launching the new Assistant skill with a select few restaurant chains and will be adding more later this year.
Meanwhile, “sunrise” or “sunset” Routines for smart home devices are now available globally. These routines are based on location and trigger actions when the sun goes up or down. For instance, a user could set a routine to turn the living room lights on and start the sprinklers when the sun goes down.
Google is also adding a dedicated section in the Google Home app of Ready-Made Routines, with options like “tell me if my battery is low” or “Tell me what happened today in history.” Users can also add shortcuts to Routines to their Android home screen.
