The Google Assistant is Google’s new virtual assistant—as well as an improvement to Google Now. It can do most things you’d expect from a virtual assistant such as answering questions or performing a search. Just like with Alexa, there are even third-party skills being added to the Google Assistant—making it even smarter! It’s also one of many reasons Google hopes you will buy the Pixel phone. That’s right. Unfortunately, the Google Assistant is only officially available on the pixel and the pixel XL, as well as on the Google Home speaker.
What if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a phone just to get the new assistant? Fortunately, there is a way to get the Google Assistant to work on non-officially supported phones. The process involves tricking the phone into think it’s a pixel, thereby enabling the Google Assistant!
Before we begin
This tweak was tested on Android Nougat on the Nexus 5, but it may work on Marshmallow. If you’re applying this tweak on the Nexus 5, I highly suggest you download the Nexus Root Toolkit. You’ll also need to download and install ADB and Fastboot.
Installing the Google Assistant
First, let’s grab the necessary files .
Save these files to an easy to remember location.
- On the Nexus 5, Be sure to enable developer mode as well as Android debug mode in settings.
- Launch nexus root toolkit. On the main screen, navigate to Advanced tools.
- Find the radio button that says that you want to flash zips from the computer, and be sure it’s checked.
- Press the flash zips button and follow the prompts.
Once your phone reboots, it is recommended that you clear Google’s data and cache in settings > apps. To invoke the assistant, tap and hold the home button for a few seconds. If you use talk back, double tap and hold the home button. The assistant may ask you to grant a few permissions before starting.
Did the tweak work for you? What do you think of the Google Assistant? Let us know in the comments!
