Google's playing some pretty funny tricks on Apple. It recently released a tool that takes advantage of Apple's new Siri Shortcuts to let users access its smart Google Assistant instead of Siri. But, hilariously, the method requires you to ask Siri to call up Google Assistant. In other words, you call one just to talk to the other.
If you haven't heard of it, Google Assistant is Google's version of Siri, but it's smarter. It's better at things like natural language, allowing you to ask questions and get answers for things like: "Who invented the telephone?"
Google, in that case, says the answer is "Alexander Graham Bell and Antonio Meucci" while Siri just delivers a Wikipedia result that mentions both names. But it can also do other things, like control the Chromecast in your house, play tunes from the music service of your choice instead of just Apple Music.
You might already use Google Assistant. While it's the default option on most Android phones, it's also what powers the Google Home speaker and other devices. If you haven't tried it, it's worth testing just to see how much better Google can be at understanding what you're asking.
There has long been a Google Assistant app for iPhone, but you previously had to open the app or use a widget to access the service. Now, you can call it up by voice through Siri.
Let me show you how.
Here's how to use Siri to bring up Google Assistant on your iPhone
- Download the latest version of Google Assistant
- Open Google Assistant on your iPhone.
You'll see a screen that looks like this:
- Tap "add to Siri."
- Tap the record button and speak "OK Google."
That's it. Now you can call up Google Assistant by saying this phrase:
"Hey Siri, OK Google."
I know. It's silly. But it works, so long as you give yourself about a second between saying "OK Google" and speaking your next question, so that the app has a chance to open.
That's it. If you want to use Google Assistant instead of Siri, now you can do it by voice.
