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Google’s AI assistant is now available for your device |
Google’s big bet on
machine learning and Artificial Intelligence depends to a large extent on the
adoption of its Google Assistant, a voice-based digital assistant. While
Android is the largest mobile operating system in the world, its ecosystem is
way too much fragmented, with ancient Android iterations such as Jelly Bean and
KitKat still running on 5.9% and 13.4% of devices respectively.
To ensure the adoption
of Assistant is
not hamstrung because Android’s fragmented ecosystem, Google is rolling out the
product for the older Lollipop (version 5.0+) smartphones and tablets running
Android 7.0 Nougat and 6.0 Marshmallow.
Looking at the latest
Android distribution chart, Google’s decision to offer Assistant on Marshmallow
and Lollipop based devices makes a lot of sense.
Android Lollipop
version 5.0 and 5.1 combine are on 26.3% of Android devices whereas Marshmallow
version 6.0 is running on 29.7% of devices, making it the largest Android
iteration at the moment. Google’s latest Android iteration, v8.0 Oreo, is just
on 0.5% of devices.
While Google Assistant is baked into core of the new OS versions, for
the above mentioned older versions users will have to launch Google Assistant
app to start using its features. That said, it’s a welcome start for Google
Assistant nonetheless, as, in theory, it covers more than half the active
Android devices
Google Assistant on Android 5.0 Lollipop is now rolling out to users
with the language set to English in the US, UK, India, Australia, Canada and
Singapore, as well as in Spanish in the U.S., Mexico and Spain. It’s also
rolling out to users in Italy, Japan, Germany, Brazil and Korea. Once you get
the update and opt-in, you’ll see an Assistant app icon in your “All apps”
list, the company announced in a blog
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