Google LLC announced new features Thursday for its digital assistant and released a lightweight version of the app that will work on most Android devices.

The Google Assistant Go app is optimized for the Android Go platform, which is the company’s streamlined operating system that has been designed to work on entry-level mobile devices. The apps on the platform will use less memory, storage space and data. The Google Assistant Go app will work on Android devices with 1 gigabyte or less of memory.

The news comes after Google also announced Thursday that its “offline first” YouTube Go app will now be available in more than 130 countries.

In the near future, Google Assistant could also get customizable “hotwords” to trigger Assistant. 9to5Google discovered something during its teardown of the updated Android Package Kit for installing Android applications: Last month, Google added support for the “Hey Google” command to complement the existing “OK Google,” and according to the APK, users will soon be able to create their own custom hotwords. The APK also reveals the ability to choose a primary and secondary language for the Google Assistant.      

The smart home speaker market is set to heat up starting next week. A competitor to Google’s Home devices and Amazon.com Inc.’s Echo, Apple Inc.’s HomePod goes on sale next week. Apple faced delays with the $349 HomePod and missed out on the holiday shopping season with its originally planned December release. The HomePod is marketed as a premium device offering superior sound, similar to the high-end Google Home Max, which is priced $50 more than the HomePod.

Here’s a look at the new features for Google Assistant and the release of the Google Assistant Go app:

Google Assistant – new features

Wake up to your favorite song

Previously, when you wanted to wake up to your favorite music, the specific song had to be loaded onto your device.

Now waking up to your favorite song is as simple as saying “Hey Google, set an alarm for 6 a.m. that plays [insert favorite song/musician/playlist].” Your Google Home, or your other Assistant-enabled speaker, will wake you up with the relevant song, artist or playlist that you requested.  

The alarm will use the music service, i.e. Spotify or Pandora, that you have set Assistant to use as default. It can also use any songs that have been uploaded to your Google Play Music library.

To set a default music service, open the Google Home app > tap Menu > tap Music > tap the radio button next to the relevant service. For Spotify and Pandora you will need to link your account, while Google Play Music and YouTube Red accounts will be linked automatically.

Find TV schedules and control Netflix

Google Assistant now makes it easier to keep up with your favorite TV shows with its new TV schedules functionality.

Users can simply say “Hey Google, what channel airs The Flash” or “Hey Google, when does The Flash air next.” You can then set a reminder as normal and ensure you don’t miss your TV show.

Google Assistant also offers better Netflix controls. First up, link your Netflix account in the Google Home app or via the Google Assistant on your phone. With Voice Match on the Assistant, you can say “Hey Google, play Stranger Things on Netflix.” It will match your voice to your Netflix profile and will pick up where you left off.

Send text messages

This week Amazon added support to send text messages with Alexa, a feature that is currently limited to Android devices in the U.S.

This isn’t a feature that Google Home officially supports yet (likely to come soon now that Amazon supports it), but there is a workaround. Users wanting to send text messages with their Google Home can use the existing IFTTT recipe or use AutoVoice.

Google Assistant Go app

The Google Assistant Go app is available to download from the Play Store. The app currently only supports English, but since this streamlined app is partially aimed at the international community, more languages will likely be supported soon.

Because this is a lightweight version of the Google Assistant app, users won’t have access to all the features of the digital assistant. Features that won’t work include reminders, controls for smart home devices, Actions on Google and Device Actions.

Users will, however, have access to answers, weather information, access to preview upcoming calendar events and the ability to get on-phone navigation. The Go version of Google Assistant will also allow users to make phone calls, send text messages and play music from YouTube.

Image: Google