Assistant, Home, Home… If you say “Hey Google” to your connected speaker, you’re going to have to shake up your habits a bit. As of July 2, 2019, Google is replacing this command with “Hey Google” in the French version of the assistant. Google says this allows it to focus on the two international “Hey Google” and “Ok Google” shebangs to improve voice recognition. For now, it’s out of the question to let users choose the shebang of their choice, as Amazon Echo speakers allow, for example.
You’ll have to get used to it: Google will soon make the call of your Google Home, Nest, or Google Assistant speaker speak a little less French. From July 2, 2019, it will no longer be possible to say that you are pregnant. “Say Google” : In a post on Google’s support pages, shebang (the famous command that wakes up the assistant) will be replaced by a more international one. “Ok Google” beside “Ok Google” : “We are pleased to announce that from July 2, French users residing in France will be able to interact with a smart speaker or display using the keyword ‘Hey Google’. […] After this change, the keyword ‘Say Google’ will no longer work in France”announces a Community Manager of the firm.
Starting July 2, 2019, Google will no longer allow you to say “Hey Google” to your speaker
The firm describes this choice in these terms: “As Google Assistant is available in new countries and languages, we’ve noticed that users are willing to adopt the ‘Hey Google’ keyword used in international communication campaigns”. And Google to add: “We give our users the best possible experience at this point by giving them the option to use two different keywords. This will also allow us to focus our efforts on these two international versions (‘Hey Google’ and ‘Ok Google’) to optimize voice recognition for French users..
in order to use “Ok Google” best conditions after this change (already available in Canada), it will be necessary to retrain the assistant – this is easy to do via your Home app. This decision seems to go against the grain of some competing assistants like Alexa, which lets you choose between four options. shebang one is commercially neutral (Alexa, Amazon, Echo and Computer). The Google Home user community has long expected similar options, even the ability to choose a completely custom wake word.
This change – possibly even more removal “Say Google” – identifies the user with an Anglicism (word “Hey” Where “OK”). What do you think ? Share your views in the comments.
