Good News! Google Assistant Coming Soon To Galaxy Watch 4 Users

JAKARTA - Good news for owners of Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, that the wait is over. Google Assistant is finally available for download starting today.

Google Assistant for Wear OS 3 is available for download on the Google Play Store and can be launched from the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic app menu. However, you can also use voice commands to open Google Assistant or reprogram your watch's home button as a shortcut.

This update has been around for a long time. When Google and Samsung first announced Wear OS 3, the companies promised that a unified platform would give Samsung smartwatch users more choices in apps.

Previously, Samsung's Tizen-based smartwatches could only offer Bixby as a digital assistant. The idea is that Wear OS 3 will let consumers choose between Bixby and Google Assistant. The same goes for apps like Google Pay.

Google Assistant has been absent from the Galaxy Watch 4 since its launch last year. Despite users' frustration, Google and Samsung haven't been clear about when Assistant will arrive, they're just saying "coming soon."

However, it's clear the wait will be over soon ahead of this year's Google I/O. First, Verizon inadvertently implied that Google Assistant was already available in the update logs at the end of April.

A few days later, Samsung uploaded a teaser video to YouTube showing the Google Assistant on the Galaxy Watch 4. Then, right after the Google I/O keynote earlier this month, Samsung confirmed that Google Assistant would be arriving this summer.

The only thing "surprising" about the announcement was how quickly it arrived after I/O. At I/O, Google emphasized that it will include more Google services on its upcoming Pixel Watch when it launches this fall and it's hard to imagine a Pixel Watch without Google Assistant.