'Ok Google' before every command is now a thing of past

Google Assistant is funny, smart, witty, and makes our life easier. What it's not is naturally conversational, especially when the user has series of follow-ups related to the first query. That changes today with Google improving its Assistant to respond without having to use the wake-up command every time.

"Ok Google, dim the kitchen lights."

"Ok Google, start the popcorn maker"

"Ok Google, turn on the television"

This is how you get things done with Google Assistant-powered Google Home, Home Mini or Home Max. Using "Ok Google" before every command can be exhausting and when Google Assistant fails to pick up the wake-up command, it's an entirely different ordeal. Google has heard your cries and finally rolled out a feature that will stop you from shouting "Ok Google" or "Hey Google" before every command.

Google demonstrated Continued Conversation feature for the Assistant at I/O conference in May and we feel it was pretty cool. This feature will be available as an optional setting, but we recommend you have it turned on to have a more natural chat with your AI buddy inside that cylindrical smart speaker.

To turn on Continued Conversation on Google Assistant, go to Settings > Preferences > Continued Conversation and hit the toggle. With the feature turned on, take a look below at how the abovementioned scenario could turn out.

Google Assistant is more actively looking for any follow-up requests to make your life easier. Once you are done, users can put the Assistant to sleep until next command by saying "thank you" or "stop." If the user hasn't had any more requests, Google Assistant will automatically end the conversation. Users will then have to use "Hey Google" or "Ok Google" to start chatting again.

So next time you wake up and the skies are grey, just ask "Hey Google, what's the weather today?"... "And what about tomorrow?"... "Can you add a rain jacket to my shopping list"... "And remind me to bring an umbrella tomorrow morning"..."Thank you!" Google's product manager Jaclyn Konzelmann explained in a blog post on Thursday.