Google Shakes Up Tech World: Digital Voice Assistant Aims to Rival Siri on Its Own Ground, But Faces Challenges

At the highly anticipated annual I/O developer conference that kickstarted yesterday, Google made numerous significant announcements. One of the most noteworthy among them is the launch of Google Assistant on iOS as a standalone application. Starting within the US and extending to other markets over time, Google is confronting Apple’s Siri head-on, on its home ground.

This momentous decision came after a flurry of rumors hinted that Google was prepping up to rival Apple’s Siri directly. Previously, the only avenue for iPhone users to utilize Google Assistant was via Google’s messaging application, Allo. However, given that Allo’s use isn’t as prevalent as some presume, Google’s bold move to roll out the Google Assistant as a standalone app could radically alter the current dynamic.

In an announcement made back in February, Google had disclosed its plans to permit non-Google devices to use Google Assistant. That decision is already yielding returns, as per Scott Huffman, Vice President of Google Assistant Engineering. Mr. Huffman confirmed that Google Assistant now operates on over a staggering 100 million Android devices worldwide. To spur further development, he urged developers to create apps maximizing the use of Google Assistant, highlighting future support for languages including German, French, Brazilian-Portuguese, and Japanese by summer, and Spanish and Korean by the year-end.

Expanding into Apple’s domain could exponentially generate a larger user base for Google’s AI tool, which some industry watchers praise as potentially the best of its kind. This is due to its seamless integration within Google’s sprawling ecosystem, extending from its world-leading search tool to the wealth of information accessible through voice chats with the Assistant.

Despite the hype, it’s crucial to note that Google Assistant, being a third-party application on iOS, stands at a disadvantage against Siri. Siri, already a default feature in all Apple devices, interlinks smoothly with other pre-installed Apple apps. Google Assistant, on the other hand, needs to be manually installed and may not seamlessly integrate with preferred apps initially, other than Google’s own. Also, while Siri can be activated via the Home Button, Google Assistant requires opening the app each time.

Currently, Google Assistant comes built-in by default with Google Pixel, newer Android devices, Android Wear, and Google Home. These devices far outnumber Apple’s iPhone and iPads collectively. In a similar vein, Samsung is encouraging users to adopt its voice assistant, Bixby, which has had a sluggish start as main voice functionalities were unavailable at its launch but will be implemented later.

A key issue Google Assistant will face is Apple’s API restrictions limiting the capabilities of third-party tools. Consequently, Google Assistant will not be able to perform simple tasks like setting alarms. However, it still retains the ability to control music in third-party apps and send iMessages on behalf of the user.

In retrospect, just last year at the I/O event, we had our first introduction to Google Assistant, and today, it is expanding to iOS at the same platform. Google also revealed the Google Assistant SDK, further developments on which have been promised to ensue.

In order to utilize the app, users must have iOS 9.1 or higher. However, for non-US users, gaining access to Google Assistant might require a little more patience.