Here's How To Set Up Your Google Assistant On Android

The steps you need to run Google Assistant. (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Digital voice assistants have become an essential part of our daily lives, and if you assume that Google Assistant is by far the most intuitive, it could be true.

If you want to set up Google Assistant on your Android or iOS device, this guide is for you. Let's see how you can get started.

Device Requirements for Google Assistant

Before you start using Google Assistant like a pro, you need to make sure that your phone or tablet can run it. Take a look at the device requirements below to see if your Android or iOS device supports Google Assistant.

For Android:

• Android 5.0 or higher
• 1GB available RAM or higher
• Google apps running apps version 6.13 or higher
• Screen resolution 720p or higher
• Google Play Services

For iOS:

• iOS 11 or higher
• Google Assistant App

How to Download Google Assistant on Android

If you have an Android device, you don't need to download the Google Assistant app as this feature is pre-installed on all modern Android devices. However, if your phone doesn't have it, you can download it on the Google Play Store.

Google Assistant is not pre-installed for iPhone and iPad because Apple wants you to use Siri's native voice assistant instead. However, you can still download the Google Assistant app for iOS on the Apple App Store.

How to Activate Google Assistant on Android

Google Assistant is enabled by default on almost all Android devices. To check if it is active on your device, long-press the Home button. If it's on, the assistant will start listening to you. Otherwise, you will be prompted to turn it on via a small prompt at the bottom of your screen.

If the prompt doesn't appear, you can enable it in Google Assistant settings like this:

• Launch the Google app.
• Tap your profile picture and select Settings.
• Go to Google Assistant > General.
• Activate Google Assistant

Once activated, your Google Assistant is ready to answer your questions, follow your prompts, and provide you with relevant search results. Just long press your Home button and talk. Or by saying “Okay Google”.

The assistant will appear saying "Hi, can I help you?". Then give commands to the Google assistant such as opening messages, playing songs on Spotify, and so on.

How to Make Google Assistant Recognize Your Voice

Apart from long-pressing the home button or using gestures, you can also launch the Google Assistant using your voice via Voice Match where saying the trigger words "Hey Google" or "Ok Google" will wake the assistant.

Through Voice Match, the Google Assistant also gives you personalized results instead of generic ones. But before you start trying this, you must first train the assistant to recognize your voice.

To do so, follow the steps below:

• Long press the Home button to launch the Google Assistant.
• Say "Go to Assistant settings."
• Tap Hey Google & Voice Match.
• Turn on Hey Google.
• Follow the steps on the screen then tap Done.

If the Google Assistant still can't recognize your voice, you can retrain it later under Hey Google & Voice Match > Voice model > Retrain voice model.