Google Assistant now understands Hindi commands better than before

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In a bid to make Google’s services more relevant and accessible in India, the company has introduced Hindi language support for Google Assistant. Google Assistant in Hindi is not as skilful as the English one, but it is likely to improve in coming months. The search giant has not made an official announcement on the update, but Google’s confirmation on JioPhone and Assistant integration is a hint.

To start using Google Assistant in Hindi, you must have an Android Phone running Android 5.0 or later. The phone language must be set to English (India).

When I first heard about the update, my expectations were totally opposite of what Google Assistant did. Sadly, the Hindi support is more like an irritating gimmick where you’ll end up speaking in English. 

For instance, when I ask Assistant ‘Kaise ho’ meaning how are you in Hindi, Google replies with ‘I’m fine’, which is good. Upon asking ‘Mausam kaisa hai’, meaning how’s the weather in Hindi, Google shows the weather. But sadly, during my experience, Assistant replied English every time I asked something. Moreover, it failed to understand my speech 60% of the times and showed random results.

Since Google hasn’t given a word on this update, it is too early to be critical about the feature. Chances are that Hindi support for Assistant is still under testing and the refined version would take some time to arrive.

With an ever-increasing user base of Android devices in tier 3 cities and towns in India, it would be a big step for Google to build its relevance in the country.