Google I / O has shown that the future is less Android, more assistant

Since the advent of Google Now (now known as Discover), the Silicon Valley giant has been trying to pass information to users before they need it.

At Google I / O 2019, Google showed how the Assistant would soon have more control over the Android experience. By providing the device-integrated IA with the functionality to manage the features of the applications and the operating system itself, users will have less reason to take advantage of their phone.

As we have reached a point where people are worried about the effects of screen time on health, this change of course is important. By giving the assistant more power for himself, the user does not have to spend so much time on his device. This provides general convenience.

To do this, Google puts less emphasis on Android. When the wizard can achieve 90% of a task with minimal input, Google no longer has to worry about creating an experience to use on smartphones.

Here is what Google is doing now to make this future a reality.

Wizard and Duplex facilitate tasks

Since its inception, the Google Assistant's main goal is to help the user in his daily tasks. But, overall, it was essentially about checking the weather, turning on or off a light, and answering basic questions.

As Google talked about at the developer conference, Assistant is designed for so much more. During the "Build Your First Action" session of the festival, developers were able to see how easy it was to add anchor points in their applications so that the wizard could use them.

The example used on stage was an application to create love. If the user came looking for the application and browsing it, he would have to do nearly a dozen steps to finalize his custom order. But with the Google assistant involved, it was enough for users to trigger the voice assistant, tell him what he wanted, and then confirm their order.

As you can imagine, the latter option reduces the time spent on the phone. Instead of losing many minutes to browse the fictitious interface, users could complete their order within seconds by uttering a short command to the wizard.

The wizard can complete tasks in seconds, which normally takes several minutes to users.

Duplex mode saves time in the real world. Unfortunately, his announcement at I / O '18 provoked mixed reactions. While the underlying premise intrigued many people, some feared that having a human voice calling for appointments would go too far.

Despite these concerns, Google has slowly set up duplex-to-handset mode in 43 US states.

Now Google brings the power of the wizard's duplex to the Web. Instead of just cutting hair or booking a table in a restaurant, the assistant will be able to fill out online forms and perform more complex tasks. The example presented at the conference was the multi-step process of setting up a car rental for a future trip.

Read more: What is Google Duplex and how do you use it?

The new Duplex features are possible because the wizard has access to essential information from a user's Google Account. This data includes trip information that may have been sent to Gmail, previous car rental selections, and more. Combined, the virtual assistant can locate and use information that the user may not even know without consulting their records.

Although Duplex still needs confirmation before using Google Pay to finalize the lease, this automation usually removes people from the equation. Again, this job would probably have taken about ten minutes to one person. With the assistant, it was done in a few moments.

Google stops giving you excuses to look at your phone

Look no further than Android Q and Digital Wellbeing for evidence that Google is trying to get people out of their phones.

With the third beta version of Android Q, Google now automatically prioritizes notifications. This automated service "intelligently" decides the importance of incoming alerts and hides the least important ones. If the phone never vibrates and never rings, the user has less reason to unlock it and watch it.

Digital Wellbeing, on the other hand, is more focused on the health of the user. Although this is not yet a basic feature for Android, it is a tool provided by Google to certain users to help reduce the use of applications.

The difference between the built-in features of Android Q and Digital Wellbeing lies in the fact that one is opt-out and the other opt-in. By default, Android Q begins to hide the notifications it deems to be less crucial without even changing the user's behavior. The user must manually enter and configure Digital Wellbeing.

This dynamic is extremely revealing of what Google wants the future of Android to look like. Fewer alerts and distractions will reduce the number of phone uses. Add the wizard and its upcoming features to this equation and the time spent on the screen should drastically go down.

The use of the smartphone always varies from one user to the other. Google's work on the wizard will not prevent people from browsing social media or playing games, but it will give them the power to spend less time performing tasks.

This focus on Wizard seems to be Google's plan for the future of Android. Of course, the company will continue to add and tweak the operating system user interface, but it is essentially visual changes. Creating new features in Assistant allows users to enter and exit applications with the least amount of work and time.

This year's Google I / O also seemed to reflect this shift in thinking. Instead of offering an abundance of entertainment and other practical options between sessions, the business is focused on productivity and education.

Google will not replace Android with Assistant so soon, but we have seen the company devote more energy to building automation in the mobile operating system. The change is slow, but the goal is clearly to make the assistant more capable. When AI can perform most daily tasks without help, users have less reason to spend all day digging into Android.

Up next: All announced on Google I / O 2019