Google Assistant Gets Pretty Please, Easy List Creation and Holiday Features

Dec. 1, 2018

Google has rolled out a host of new features for theGoogle Assistantwhich range from better list management and new smart device controls to one that rewards users for being polite and also tells stories for kids during the holiday season.

With each new update, Google Assistant has made Google Home speakers a lot more feature-rich, and many of these updates are related to using Google Assistant in the family. Here’s a look at the new Google Assistant features:

Better List Management

Users can now easily create a list with a specific name and add entries to it by just saying the relevant command. For example, you can ask Google Assistant to create a list with a simple voice command like‘Hey Google, create a grocery list’, followed by the items that should be added to it. Google also plans to add support for Google Keep as well as other third-party services such as Any.do, Bring!, and Todoist for Google Assistant’s new list creation feature.

Google Assistant-powered smart displays will now feature a‘Talk’button that will let users talk with guests standing in front of a Nest Hello video doorbell even before they enter the house.

Users can now see the lyrics for songs being played via Google Play Music on a smart display. Also, Google has also expanded the library of books for the Google Assistant’s ‘Read Along’ feature which adds sound effects to make a story recitation session more dramatic. Read Along can now be activated for holiday classics likeMickey’s Christmas Carolas well as beloved Disney titles likeFrozen,AladdinandThe Lion King.

Also, one can now listen to books from a library of over 50 titles such asBeauty and the BeastandCinderella, alongside some new holiday content from Nickelodeon such asAlbert: The Little Tree with Big DreamsandBlaze and the Monster Machinesamong others on a Google Assistant-powered smart home device.