Google Finally Releases Custom Voice Actions For Third Party Apps
Google is aiming to expand Voice Actions to third party applications. The purpose of this initiative is to enable users to make the most of their apps on Android devices and would offer much more than launching them. In certain cases this function would also act as an in-app search feature.
For this feature to be effective, Google is partnering with various companies and services to offer accurate results on most searched voice actions. For instance, the TripAdvisor app would be launched and attractions would be searched within the app when a user would mention “TripAdvisor” and “attractions” on the Voice Actions feature.
Google is currently rolling out the custom voice actions with a few group of partners but the search engine giant plans to expand the feature further in the future, making it available for non-partner apps as well.
About a year ago, rumors were rife about the development of this feature. This roll out coincides with the expansion of Microsoft’s Cortana integration into third party apps. Some sites have now dubbed this initiative from Google as “OK Google Everywhere”. In parallel to these initiatives and along the same line of partnerships, Google has increased its range of app publishers and developers forming part of Google Now. This has led to an addition of 70 new apps.
Google is affording more and more importance to Google Now and Voice Actions. This goes to show that the future of mobile searches lies in voice searches and the rapidity with which information can be accessed.
