Google Guacamole is a feature that appeared in the code of Android 11, which could change the way we use the digital assistant Google Assistant. Here’s how.
It’s reminiscent of the name of an avocado-based sauce but has very little to do with food: it’s Google Guacamole and it’s the new feature that Big G has decided to integrate into its voice assistant. After having made experts and fans groping in the dark for a few days, the new feature has shown to all its peculiar capabilities.
To give an idea of what the future use of this new feature may be was the site 9to5Google, analyzing what is normally called APK files (here is the explanation on what APKs are). Inside the APK, a name that pertains to app installation packages for the Android operating system, the site’s experts were able to analyze lines of code in order to safely determine the operations performed once the file is installed on your device. It is what they managed to track down was particularly interesting, in light of the implementations offered to the smart assistant of the robot operating system.
Google Guacamole, when did it appear?
The first appearance of Google Guacamole dates back to the beta 12.5 version of the Google app for Android 11 (and not on the preview dedicated to developers of Android 12). The description of the feature was, on that occasion, not the most comprehensive: “Make things quickly with Guacamole”.
A little too little to come to any conclusions. Fortunately, however, the code managed to satisfy some of the questions of the general public, granting a first glimpse of what Guacamole will be once it actually becomes part of the final package.
Google Guacamole, how does it work?
The feature was inserted (and discovered right there, accidentally) within the settings of Google’s voice assistant, under the heading “Guacamole”. Along with the name, the wording ‘Avoid saying “Hey Google”‘ to perform tasks that require a greater readiness than usual.
The feature can be turned on or off, depending on the needs of the device user, through a toggle selector, present under the shortcuts dedicated to the voice. The tap of the finger is enough to activate or pause the useful support by Guacamole.
Google Guacamole, when is it useful?
As anticipated, the main use is in all those occasions where the time factor is the protagonist. It can be a call, to be answered quickly, or an alarm to be deactivated in a few moments before the alarm goes off in the whole room.
Thanks to Guacamole, therefore, it becomes sufficient to specify the final action, without necessarily having to anticipate everything with the phrase that has made famous the voice assistant of Big G. With Guacamole active, in practice, it will not be necessary to pronounce the entire phrase “Ok Google, turn off the alarm clock”, but simply “Turn off the alarm clock”.
It is clear that this feature will be very useful to the user and can convince more people to use the Google Assistant, but only if it is well calibrated: otherwise you risk dozens of unwanted activations of Google Assistant.