Google brings its Assistant to your text messages

Google is once again finding new places on your phone to put its Assistant.

The company is adding Google Assistant to its Android Messages app, in a move that will make Google’s texting app more like the now-defunct messaging app Allo.

The change will let you “inject” Google Assistant suggestions into your conversations — no “Hey Google,” command required. If you you and a friend are chatting about a movie, for example, the assistant could suggest a card with showtimes. The same with weather conditions, location info, and other details you may normally rely on a Google search for.

If that sounds familiar, then it’s likely because that’s a similar premise to how Google Assistant worked in Allo, Google’s first messaging app to include its assistant. But there’s an important difference between Google Assistant in Android Messages and Allo. 

Allo required users to direct a question @Google in the middle of their conversation, which was awkward and maybe slightly creepy. Instead of that clunky experience, Google Assistant’s suggestions in Android Messages are proactive suggestions that appear when the app detects you might want more information about a specific topic. If you do choose to share it, it appears simply as a card with more information, not as a third participant in your conversation.

The experience is “almost like a richer smart reply,” says Google’s VP of Engineering for Assistant Scott Huffman, who acknowledges that Google “made some mistakes” with its implementation of Assistant in Allo.

“This is a fairly different model,” he said. “This is something that’s present on my phone but I can inject info when it makes sense.”