Google Assistant is now in Contacts: Here's why that's a big deal

A new Google Assistant feature is coming to the Google contacts app. This new feature will allow users to input information Google Assistant can use to help make calls for you via your relationships.

When you can’t pick up your phone and you need to make a call, having the ability to voice command Google Assistant to call a contact for you can be very handy. But wouldn’t it be nice if you could ask Google Assistant to “call my girlfriend” and have it know who you want to talk to?

Although this was already possible, it’s not something you can do without a bit of setup first. The fact is, Google Assistant won’t know how you’re related to one of your contacts just from the information in Contacts. You first have to tell Google Assistant how you’re related and have Assistant add that information to Contacts for you.

Discovered by Android Police, the new feature coming to Google Contacts will introduce a card for contact entries that shows everything Google Assistant uses to identify a contact. This includes things like date of birth, address, name pronunciation, and more. It also includes a field for the person’s relation to you.

This way you know exactly what Assistant uses as unique identifiers for that person. The feature also lets you directly add additional identifiers such as mom, dad, partner, and more without having to switch between Assistant settings and your contacts.

Having all the information there in one place should help simplify calling via voice command. But calling isn’t the only thing you can use Google Assistant for. Check out all of the most important commands you can use with the digital companion.