Last year with the Nexus 5, Google introduced the Google Now launcher with an “Ok, Google” voice recognition functionality on the homescreen. This feature could not be imitated by third party launchers because it is seemingly closed source.

Now, one of the developers of OmniROM — Guillaume Lesinak — has managed to bring a similar feature to their ROM with their own set of tweaks and enhancements. 

Unlike the Nexus 5, the hotword to initiate a voice command is fully customisable here. Users can also have specific voice commands to launch or trigger specific apps or events. Check out the video below to see the feature in action:

It is not yet known if this feature would makes it way to all the devices supported by OmniROM or only the ones powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor or just the Nexus 5. The developer has also not yet confirmed whether enabling this feature will \ adversely affect battery life or not. Then, there is also the question of whether custom hotwords will only work with the stock launcher on the OmniROM or third-party launchers from the Play Store as well.

The feature has not yet made its way to the OmniROM nightly builds but is expected to land sometime soon. Once it does, expect the above questions to be answered.