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In case you weren’t already aware, Actions are how developers let you interact with their applications with your Google Home and Google Assistant. However, the Assistant app on your mobile devices did not include this functionality — until today.
At Google I/O 2017, Actions on Google were announced as coming to your iPhone or Android device. You’ve likely already seen or used Actions if you’ve used a Google Home before, but they are extremely similar to Amazon’s Alexa Skills which allow you to interact in various ways with your Amazon Echo device.
However, the difference between Google Actions and Amazon Alexa Skills comes with how you specifically interact with it. For example, on your Alexa-enabled device, you’ll have to activate the skill through a specific keyword phrase. However, with Actions, you’ll be able to activate this by saying “Ok Google, talk to…” and mention the specific app.
The biggest highlight of the new Google Actions is the ability to make transactions from your smartphone. The example used on stage was when the presenter ordered lunch from Panera, all from Assistant.
After information such as payment information and delivery addresses were pre-entered in Google, Assistant was able to make the process a breeze. This is huge because it means that you’ll never have to search through or type anything into Assistant if you’re trying to order some food. Of course, this ability should expand to other retailers in the future.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out the video below which walks you through the steps need to integrate Actions into your Assistant-compatible apps.
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