Google has a habit of keeping its newest features exclusive to its more top-of-the-line products, which is why when Google Assistant launched, it was only made available for Pixel device — except the Pixel C tablet.
Google Assistant became available on pretty much any Android phone and iOS device, and now it's finally arrived on the Pixel C tablet. Google Assistant started rolling out to tablet late last year, but the Pixel C was notably left out, and Google didn't have a good explanation as to why.
Google Assistant Lands On The Pixel C
Now Pixel C users are reporting that the latest update to the Google app brings Assistant to the tablet. Implementation is similar to the smartphone version, in which the Google Assistant panel pops up on the bottom of the screen, accepting written or spoken commands. The results are much like what one would get by using a smartphone, but there are some noteworthy differences.
For one, Lens isn't baked into Google Assistant on the Pixel C, which means it can't be used to take photos of things to get more information. To be fair, this feature hasn't made its way to most Android phones yet. The Pixel C also gets landscape mode for Google Assistant, which isn't something smartphones are capable of doing.
It remains uncertain why Google has chosen to keep the Pixel C out of the Google Assistant support list for so long, but the most plausible guess is that perhaps it wasn't Google's priority. First of all, the tablet is really old by consumer tech standards — it was launched in 2015 — and while Google failed to provide sales data, the Pixel C doesn't seem as if it had sold like hotcakes during the day. Google recently halted sales of this tablet, in fact.
Google wants to make Assistant as widely available as possible, and rolling out to devices with the largest user base first makes sense.
Google Assistant
Tap and hold the home key to trigger Google Assistant on the Pixel C. The setup process is similar to that on smartphones, and there should also be a shortcut available to make it easier to access. Google Assistant offers a variety of functionality, including setting up calendar events, taking down notes, setting up alarms, controlling third-party devices, translate foreign text, play music, and tons of other things. All these, of course, can be triggered via voice commands, which Google has been particularly excellent at over the years.
