Google Assistant will be multilingual by the end of 2018

2018 is the year that Google Assistant will go truly global according to a recent announcement from Google. Before the end of 2018, the search giant says its voice assistant will be able to speak 30 languages, which is a big increase on the eight it currently understands.

In the coming months, Google says it plans to add Danish, Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Norwegian, Swedish and Thai, with others planned to roll out later in the year. When Google Assistant’s language count hits 30, it’ll be able to reach 95 percent of all eligible Android devices worldwide.

Not only will the voice assistant be able to communicate in 30 languages by the end of 2018, Google has said it’ll be able to switch between them quickly and easily. In multilingual households, for example, Assistant will be able to immediately respond in the language it’s been addressed in, no setting changes required.

A global Assistant

This is a massive improvement, and having 30 languages will mean Google Assistant surpasses Apple’s Siri which currently supports 20.

Though Google Assistant won’t be able to detect multiple languages in a single sentence, not having to change the settings to speak to your voice assistant in German at home but English at work, for example, makes it much more flexible and useful to a global audience.

While these multilingual capabilities will be limited to English, French and German at first, they’ll expand to include other languages later.

These aren’t the only changes Google has announced for Assistant; there will also be Routines and location-based reminders added in the coming weeks. First announced in 2017, Routines will make it possible to control multiple smart devices with a single command. For example, if you say ‘Hey Google, I’m leaving now’ you can have your Assistant turn of the lights, TV and any music that might be playing all at once.

Location-based reminders are already available on Google Assistant for phones, but soon it’ll be possible to use them with Google Home. So, if you ask your Google Home to remind you to pick something up at the supermarket, Google Assistant on your phone will flag it up when you arrive there.

All in all, these improvements will make Google Assistant a far more flexible and useful service.