With Google I/O coming up, rumours about what all features the next version of Android will bring have started popping up everywhere. Today’s dose of rumour comes from the folks over at Android Police, which means that there is a strong possibility of it being true.
The rumour is that Google plans on bringing its somewhat iconic “Ok Google” voice command and voice-based actions throughout Android and its apps. This would allow users to automatically complete certain tasks via a simple voice command. For example, users can say “Ok Google” inside the Keep app followed by the voice command to take a new note and then say the content of the note. It is not yet known whether Google plans on expanding this functionality to third-party apps via APIs or just keep it exclusively for their apps.
In some apps, the “Ok Google” hot word would be smart enough to automatically provide users with suggested actions. For example, if you are using the Gmail app to reply to an email, the prompt will allow users to add relevant information like the timings of the movie name mentioned in that email etc. The feature is being dubbed as “Ok Google everywhere” and will contain many modular voice action commands that can be used across many apps.
Interestingly, the rumour also suggests that Google plans on replacing the stock navigation bar keys on Android. Apparently, Google plans on replacing the home button with a Google logo that will trigger a search prompt from anywhere in the OS. To get back to their home screen, users would have to swiping from the right in the Recents app list. This feature will only be available on the Nexus devices that run the Google Experience Launcher as the company plans on differentiating its devices from other stock running Android devices in the market. However, given how drastic this change is, I doubt Google is going to implement it.
Nevertheless, take whatever you have read above with a slight grain of salt as the “Ok Google Everywhere” project is still very much a work in progress. This means that the final result might just be completely different or it may not even see the light of the day.
