In a blog post, Google has announced new Google Assistant features to help families stay more organized.
FAMILY BROADCAST
Family broadcast extends the broadcast feature so you can reach your family wherever they are, and they can respond from any device including from their phones. With Family Broadcast, when you get home you can broadcast a message to your Google Family Group across all our smart speakers and displays. The message will even reach your family on their iPhone or Android device they are away from home, letting them reply by voice or by selecting the “reply” button.
FAMILY BELL REMINDER
With Family Bell reminders, parents can add bell reminders throughout the day that announce when it’s time to start an online class, take a break, settle in for reading time, have a snack or even for bedtime. To get started, simply say “Hey Google, create a Family Bell” or select Family Bell in your Assistant settings. It includes suggested bells for activities like recess, nap time or math time, or you can customize bells to alert someone in your household of an upcoming activity.
Over the coming weeks, Google is expanding Family Bell to eight new languages, including Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Another highly requested feature Google is rolling out today is the ability to have Family Bells ring across multiple home devices at one time (not just one smart speaker or display).
NEW STORIES AND GAMES
Assistant is getting new stories and games that you can access from a smart display or Android device. Google is partnering with Pottermore Publishing to bring more stories later in the year.
Google is also bringing the “Who Was?” series from Penguin Random House to your smart display. Just say “Hey Google, talk to Who Was Heroes’” and listen to stories about Ida B. Wells, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and over 100 others. To get a full list of all the stories that are available, simply say “Hey Google, tell me a story.” (With a parent’s permission, children under 13, or the applicable age in their country, can have a personalized Google Assistant experience and access these games designed for kids and families, powered by Family Link.)
Google Assistant now also features a new trivia game, “Are you smarter than a 5th Grader.”
MORE
Google has added a new clean-up song to motivate kids, activated by saying “Hey Google, Sing the cleanup song.” There is also a handwashing song, sleep song and brush your teeth song.
The features should be available to your Google Nest Hub now.
