Google has begun expanding its voice commands on Android to enable Google Now to both open and navigate through some apps.
The move marks the first attempt for Google to expand into voice control for third-party apps, instead choosing to focus on its own apps.
"Google Voice Actions let users quickly complete tasks in your app using voice commands," said the company on its developer's blog. "It's another way to drive usage of your app with Google. Users' voice and text action requests can now lead directly to your Android app, so they can get to your native mobile experiences quickly and easily."
The first third-party apps to offer support for Google Now include the likes of Shazam, NPR and Instacart, among others. While features are currently limited, users will be able to "Shazam this song," among other things.
Previously using similar commands would have likely sent users to websites of Shazam and NPR, an outcome that users would not have wanted when they have apps for these services right on their phones.
While the features might be a little limited at this point, it is expected that they will be greatly expanded over the next few months and beyond, with developers even being able to create their own voice commands for their apps.
The move comes only a few days after Google announced more than 70 new cards for Google Now, offering users centralized information by simply swiping right on their Android device. Again, it is expected that Google will continue to expand Google Now, especially as app popularity changes. Google's main focus of late seems to be in expanding Google Now cards for third-party apps, similar to what it is doing with its voice controls.
"Looking for new, interesting ways for your users to engage with your app? Today, we launched our first set of partners for custom Google voice actions on Android," said Google on its Android Developers Google+ page. "We're currently piloting custom voice actions with a select group of partners, but we plan to open it up more widely in the future — and we'd love to hear your ideas for actions you'd like to implement."
Google Now was first launched in 2012 as a competitor to Apple's own personal assistant, Siri. Since then, many suggest that Google Now has overtaken Siri in usability and functionality, especially as it expands its support to third-party apps and services. Coupled with its leadership in search, Google Now is becoming increasingly easy to use.
