Google Updates Assistant and Fi with Family-Friendly Features

Google has announced new family-focused updates for Assistant and Fi, which can be potentially useful whether you’ve all been under one roof for the duration of the pandemic or are planning to travel for the holidays.

The changes made by the Assistant are mostly focused on smart displays like the Nest Hub Max, where a number of old and new features will be brought together in a new section called the ‘Family tab’.

Image: Google

The first new addition is Family Notes, which lets you dictate sticky style messages for tasks and reminders. Notes “stick” to the main screen of your smart display so that they are visible to anyone who uses the screen afterwards.

Image: Google

Continuing the theme of family organization, the Assistant’s Family Bell feature, which uses chimes to set reminders for the day at home, also gets a slight update, with new sound effects and sound suggestions. bells. Google says it plans to add the ability to pause all the bells for the day when you’re also enjoying hard-earned time off.

Image: Google

To fill this free time, the Assistant offers some new education and entertainment options for families with young children. Using the new “Hey Google, what can I learn with my family?” Voice command the updated smart display can provide learning activities from providers like ABCmouse for kids to complete.

If something entertaining is more your speed, the Assistant’s “Hey Google, tell me a story” command can bring up new interactive stories for smart screens that let you flip through pages, read word by word. and display personalized animations.

Image: Google

To complement the Assistant’s family functionality, a new command lets you get updates on your family’s whereabouts. You can ask, “Ok Google, where is my family?” or ask questions about a specific family member and the assistant can check their last known location on Google Maps. This feature requires a family account with Google, participating family members over the age of 13, and location sharing must be enabled in Google Maps or partner apps such as Life360.

Extended parental control over the Fi

For Fi, the updates primarily extend parental controls over cellular service. Parents can block calls and texts from strangers, as well as set a data budget so kids don’t hit the bill by downloading videos or games. Google also says it has made it easy to set up its Family Link service on children’s Android phones, so parents can create content filters and limit viewing time. Fi-specific features are available at no additional cost; Family Link is free to download from Google Play and the App Store.

Google says updates to Fi are expected to arrive within the next week. There is no specific date for Assistant updates, but Google says the Family tab should arrive by the end of the year and I would expect the new features to do so. the same.