- Gemini for Home will receive another update
- Continuous conversation is rolling out now to early access users
- It means that “hey Google” is not always necessary
The move from Google Assistant to Gemini across Google’s various smart home devices hasn’t exactly been perfect, but there are encouraging signs that something is now being done about the biggest bugs and missing features.
Case in point: Google just announced that the Continuous Conversation feature is coming to users who have early access to Gemini for Home. The feature requires no subscription and is available in all languages and all regions, as long as you already have Gemini for Home functionality.
As the name suggests, it means you can have longer conversations with Gemini and you won’t have to say “Hey Google” again if you stop talking for a few seconds. Your smart devices should keep their LEDs on so you know they are still listening and remember the context of the previous conversation.
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Google says that continuous chat is smart enough to distinguish between commands and other “side chat,” so it won’t be confused if you suddenly tell your dog to get off the couch. Or at least, that’s the theory.
‘It works very well’
The continuing conversation comes to Gemini for Home from r/googlehome
To see if it’s available to you, in the Google Home app, tap your profile photo (top right), then tap Home settings > Gemini for Home voice assistant > Continuous conversation. Please note that Gemini for Home still has limited availability.
Something similar to continuous conversation was previously available with Google Assistant on smart devices: although the new Gemini is smarter in some ways, Google Assistant devices were able to recognize extended instructions, without the phrase “hey Google” being used in each space.
Users are therefore very happy to see the feature return: Redditors say that it has been “very inconvenient” and “cumbersome” to use Google Home without it, and that the feature had “really been missed” since Gemini took over. For those who got the update, it apparently “works great.”
However, there are still many comments bemoaning the fact that the release of Gemini for Home is taking so long, having started in the second half of last year, and that there are still several issues that need to be ironed out.
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