You can already use the “OK Google” command to fire up the Google Assistant on your compatible Android smartphone. The “Hey Google” command wasn’t supported on smartphones as it was only used for Assistant-powered hardware like the Google Home smart speaker. That changes today, though. Google is now rolling out support for the Hey Google keyword for smartphones.
When support for the Hey Google command for Google Assistant lands on users’ devices, they will receive a notification informing them that this command is now supported. Users can then train their handset to listen for both the OK Google and Hey Google commands in response to which it will launch Google’s AI-powered digital personal assistant.
It’s a minor change but one that’s likely going to make life easier for those who tend to rely a lot on Google Assistant. This will be particularly helpful for them if they’ve grown accustomed to saying Hey Google to bring up Assitant on the Google Home. They no longer have to switch between two separate commands for essentially them same result on smartphones and Google Home units.
Those who’ve not yet received the update notification can head over to the Google Play Store and check if an update is available for the Google App. If it is, they just need to update the app in order to get support for this command.
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