The Google Home speaker was launched in 2016 at the Google I/O. Since then, the Google Assistant-powered smart speaker has faced stiff competition from the Amazon Echo.
Nevertheless, Google's product managed to hold its own and the company is constantly trying to release new updates to add exciting features and functionalities. However, the speaker lacked the integral capability of setting up reminders, whereby the Google Assistant can notify the user of an appointment or a scheduled task.
Google Home owners have demanded the addition of this feature for a long time and they may soon get their wish. A new report indicates that the upcoming update for the Google Home may add this functionality to the smart speaker, as well as bring some other changes.
Setting Reminders On Google Home
According to XDA Developers, the v2.3 update for the Google Home app may bring a host of enhancements to the smart speaker. The most important one is the ability to set up reminders. Analyzing the APK files of the impending update yielded the information regarding the new functionality.
The report also reveals that the v2.3 update would add the "Reminders" tab to the slide out menu for the Google Home app where the Shopping List, Home Control Menu, and Music options are located.
The slide out menu functions are voice controlled, which suggests that the reminder setting will also be voice activated. However, Google is yet to confirm that the feature is indeed hitting the devices and if so, whether it would be voice controlled.
Owners may also wonder why the developers took so long to incorporate a very basic feature, which is of immense importance nonetheless.
What Other Features Will The Google Home Update Bring?
Another major change set to make its way to the Google Home is the addition of the "cloudcast" feature. The folks at XDA believe that the v2.3 update for the Google Home app will allow the smart speaker to share images, videos, and other data with other devices. Presently, this sharing was only limited to the local network. For example, to transfer a file, users needed to connect one device to the smart speaker's network and then make the transfer.
However, with the cloudcast feature, it would be possible to share data, video, or images with devices that are on an external network. It is not clear how cloudcast would work, but it sounds like an interesting and useful feature.
The company recently launched the Google Assistant SDK feature. This allows third-party devices to house the Assistant in their own speakers and devices.
Other minor additions the update would bring the option of clearing the Google Home browsing history from the app itself. Currently, users have to log into their online account through a web browser to clear this data.
It is not known whether Google would indeed release the impending v2.3 update for the smart speaker at this year's I/O event.
