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Changes we're making to Google Assistant

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Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#241

Post by BeetleB »

dmonitor wrote: post #173
BeetleB wrote: post #147

I bought Google Home/speakers in 2018 and still use them. Since I bought them, there have been almost 0 improvements that I've seen. A lot of potential gone to waste. That they're sunsetting features is not a surprise. I don't know if Alexa is better, but I always tell my friends to buy those instead of Google Homes.

it’s at least a decent wifi speaker for casting spotify or whatever

That it has some good qualities is why I still haven't put them in the trash. My point is they've let it rot all these years. And the potential for cool applications is huge.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#242

Post by gopher_space »

dylan604 wrote: post #165
esafak wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just voice, but conversational interfaces in general that have this discoverability problem. That means chatGPT. I'm glad people are discovering it, if you excuse the pun. CUIs are not a panacea, not a replacement for conventional UIs.

it reminds me of all the old text games like Zorg or whatever where they gave you a cursor leaving you to figure out what you could ask/say/do. which is fine for a game. it sux for a "tool"

> like Zorg or whatever

Ow, right in the AARP flyer.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#243

Post by cavisne »

gleenn wrote: post #162
happymellon wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A usual conversation my wife had with Google: > okay Google set a timer for 15 mins Certainly, and did you know I can also set an alarm for 6 am in the kitchen? > Fuck off Google

I'm not dying for them to record more than absolutely necessary, but I really hope all the voice ui engineers do log curses to know when their app is doing annoying stuff. The number of times these things screw up I definitely get really spicy and hope that feedback makes it back.

I remember (maybe its still like this!) there used to be a page you could go to and see all your alexa voice clips since forever. It's amazing amazon has gone so long not caring about privacy without backlash.

EDIT: Yep its still there! https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#244

Post by beembeem »

iteratethis wrote: post #98

"We're doing cost cuts and layoffs and here's why this is great for you".

Yep. So much double-speak and lying through the teeth here. The audacity to mention "we're investing in assistant" in an announcement about how they are decidedly de-investing is rich.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#245

Post by 6figurelenins »

lxgr wrote: post #226
genman wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks like an anti competitive action that should be investigated.

I think Google has actually removed all third-party integrations for Assistant a while ago: https://developers.google.com/assistant/ca-sunset In other words, they have just closed down that entire ecosystem. I don't think there's an antitrust angle here: Forcing e.g. Apple to allow third-party apps or app stores seems within reach (at least in the EU); this would be more like forcing Apple to enable apps in a world w…

"If there is no banner, your Actions project is not a Conversational Action and won’t be affected."

Here, "conversational" means your voice command should prompt the app to ask you a question, driving a state machine. (Set a reminder. When do you want to be reminded?)

I haven't tried to use it, but the docs indicate CRUD-over-voice ("built-in intents") is unaffected.

https://developers.google.com/assistant/ca-sunset#what_will_...

https://developer.android.com/reference/app-actions/built-in...

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#246

Post by adjagu »

Loughla wrote: post #195
ethbr1 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is that everyone removed hierarchical menus and replaced them with... nothing. There is no command ontology anymore. Consequently, discovering commands in-app is UX anathema. "Use the internet, buddy. One of our customers probably documented how-to somewhere on it."

Seriously though. The development of every company to just trash faq's or an "assistant" or third party forums is awful. Trying to get help with technology is almost always infuriating now. I recently had to contact windows help, and they were useless. The windows forum points to a third party software that I am convinced is malware. And while I'm ranting, why can't the download folders in windows be set to group by…

Maybe WinSetView [0] and the options [1] it provides might be of use to you? It was able to resolve the issues I was facing so hopefully it can work for you as well.

[0]: https://github.com/LesFerch/WinSetView

[1]: https://github.com/LesFerch/WinSetView/blob/main/README-more...

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#247

Post by nf3 »

afavour wrote: post #30

To me this highlights the core failure with all these voice-driven UIs: you have absolutely no idea what is possible and what isn't. Discoverability is zero, which makes big changes like this even more disruptive. I've already decided that I'm done with Google's smart assistant stuff in any case. I have a Google Home with a screen in my kitchen and the most-used feature (aside from just existing as a photo frame) was…

Who in their right mind would bring this kind of intrusive technology into their home, right into their most intimate space? I seriously don't get it. I mean what's wrong with keeping a pen & paper shopping list on your fridge?

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#248

Post by vkou »

gerash wrote: post #159
fsmv wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new DMA law prevents combining data across products

Really? If so, then Google should only apply it to European users and not the entire world

Just like how California is a big enough market that it drove emissions improvements in American cars, Europe is a big enough market that it drives privacy improvements in the world-wide internet.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#249

Post by drdaeman »

NoboruWataya wrote: post #111

Amazing that this post about how they are intent on delivering the "best possible user experience" just announces a ton of features they're dropping and literally not one feature they are adding. Not that it matters to me because having bought an Amazon Echo a few years back I find these things mostly useless. It basically just does the most basic things a phone does (music, weather, news headlines), but with added f…

That's modern large corporate PR for you - they can stop any kind of service and remove any features and the PR department will release that happy post parading it as a giant leap forward. What's bad is that people are so used to it nobody barely rises an eyebrow.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#250

Post by _elf »

tayloramurphy wrote: post #152
verelo wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s almost like google intentionally kills good projects. I still miss Inbox more than anything. The snooze feature on an email was so amazing.

I've been using (and paying!) https://simpl.fyi/ for a few years now and it makes up for missing inbox for me. It was founded by the design lead for Inbox. Highly recommend if you use a Chromium-based browser.

It works in Firefox and Safari too. I like it a lot and pay for it.
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