Google Assistant’s new Family Bell feature
Now you can ask Google to set reminder bells for the whole family, as well as broadcast messages to a specific room.
As summer slowly winds to a close and the first day of remote learning remains weeks away (for many of us, anyway), it’s easy to let the children go nuts on their tablets. Luckily, Google Assistant has a new feature to help keep young ones from disappearing into their bean bags.
Available now in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and India, the new Family Bell feature lets you create bells that sound on your Google smart speakers and displays, just like the bells at school.
For example, you can say “Hey Google, create a Family Bell” to set reminder bells for breakfast, the start of a virtual camp day, breaktime in the back garden or lunchtime.
Your various bells can recur every day or on specific days of the week,
and you can set them to ring on one, some or all of your Google smart speakers or displays.
Once the first day of remote (or hybrid) school finally does arrive, Google Assistant can also help set an appropriately bustling mood.
Just say “Hey Google, start the school day” or “Hey Google, school’s in session”, and your Google Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max will display some ‘school-themed’ images (think clocks, stacks of books, glue and scissors). At the same time, both Google speakers (such as the Google Nest Mini) and smart displays will play ambient sounds of children rummaging through their lockers and hurrying off to class, as well as flash ‘upbeat’ colours on connected smart lights.
Also coming is another key feature: the ability to broadcast messages to a specific room or Google device. Now you can say “Hey Google, broadcast to Claire’s bedroom, ‘Have you finished your daily journal yet?’” or “Hey Google, broadcast to downstairs, “‘Dinner’s ready!’”
Last but not least, Google Assistant is getting an ‘Animal of the day’ feature. If you say “Hey Google, tell me about the animal of the day”, Google Assistant will tell you about a new animal each day on your Google smart devices, with displays like the Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max showing a picture of the lucky beast. It’s currently only available in the US.