How to activate Google Assistant

The well-known voice assistant made by Google recently also landed in our country. Despite having a significantly reduced number of features compared to the English language variant, Google Assistant still allows you to perform various useful operations without actually touching our smartphone.

The release in the city has already been completed but on some devices it may not have arrived for various reasons. Let's see together how and if it is possible to activate Google Assistant on your devices!

How to activate Google Assistant - Index

• Requirements and procedure for Android
• Procedura per Android Wear
• Requirements and procedure for iOS

Procedure for Android

First let's see how the new service created by Google must be configured on its operating system.

Requirements

Not all smartphones or tablets Android are compatible with the voice assistant in question as they must comply with certain specific conditions:

• Operating System Android 6.0 Marshmallow. First, make sure your device is updated to the version of Android 6.0 or later. To do this, all you have to do is go to the settings and scroll the list to the item Info on the device. If you have a Xiaomi device, just tap on the first item in the list.
• Google app 6.13 or later. The application of the well-known search engine, which in fact also includes the voice assistant, must necessarily be updated to at least version 6.13. You can download the latest version available directly from the Play Store or from APKMirror.
• Google Play Service installed. In order for everything to work properly, Play Service must be present on your device. In case your device was purchased from China, it is possible that it is not present or up to date. In that case, I recommend that you take a look at our article on the subject.
• Technical features. In addition to a software point of view, your smartphone / tablet must also meet technical requirements. In particular, it is necessary to have a 720p or higher resolution display and at least 1.5 GB of RAM.

Activation

Once the minimum requirements are met, we can proceed to activate the voice assistant. Usually by starting the Google app after updating it to the latest version, the configuration procedure starts automatically. If not, just open the Google app, tap on the left menu and choose the item Settings. Here scroll to Voice, then select Voice identification and, in the next screen, tap on Say “Ok Google” at any time.

At this point the configuration phase will begin in which you will be asked to repeat 3 times Ok Google. My advice is to use different tones of voice, so as to facilitate recognition if, for example, we speak in a hurry or in a low voice.

That's all! To start using Google Assistant, you can say the magic words “Ok Google” or press and hold the central Home button.

Procedura per Android Wear

Google's voice assistant is also available for all Android Wear smartwatches as long as the latter is updated to the version 2.0. To activate it, it is enough to press and hold the main physical button or say “Ok Google”. If it does not activate, you need to go to Settings> Personalization and enable voice recognition.

Procedure for iOS

Even the devices of the bitten apple can enjoy the features brought by the Google assistant. In this case, however, Assistant is available as a stand-alone application. You will have to go to the App Store and search for the Google Assistant. After downloading and installing it, all that remains is to connect it to your Google account and enable receiving notifications.

To use the voice assistant on Apple devices, you need to start the application and, from there, tap on the microphone icon or say “Ok Google”. Unlike what happens on Android, in fact, Apple sees Siri as the main assistant and does not allow it to be completely replaced with Assistant.

Now you are finally ready to use Google's voice assistant on any device you have!