Google is planning to bring its fancy new Assistant to iOS, according to a new report.
The virtual assistant will be available inside a standalone app, and a “trusted source” claims it will arrive soon.
Unveiled at Google I/O last year, the Google Assistant is baked into Android 7.0 Nougat and available inside the Google Home speaker. It’s a more conversational and more functional upgrade to Google Now, and it’s a lot more flexible than Siri.
Late last month, Google released a new SDK that gives even more developers the ability to make their services compatible with the Assistant. Now the company is said to be planning to expand its reach to iOS with a standalone app.
“According to a trusted source, Google plans to announce that the Google Assistant will be launching on iOS soon,” reports Android Police. “The announcement could come as soon as Google’s I/O conference this week, but it’s unclear exactly what Google’s plans are at this time.”
It’s thought the app will offer the ability to interact with the Assistant using your voice, as well as by text — in the same way you can chat via instant message using the Allo app on Android. It’s also said that it will only be available in the U.S. at first, but details are still “scant” at the moment.
As the battle between virtual assistants hots up, expanding to new platforms is one way for Google to boost its user base. Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa are all available on third-party platforms and devices, leaving only Siri and Samsung’s new Bixby tied to one ecosystem.
