Google Assistant Can Now Remind Your Kids To Do Their Chores

Modern day living is hectic, and often, we need to remind those we love to actually get things done. Soon, Google Assistant will be able to take care of that, allowing you to set reminders for yourself or other people in your family group. If you have a family and each day has a packed schedule, it sounds like this new feature can come in particularly handy.Google explains that this can feature can be used for all sorts of reminders – whether you want to remind a spouse to pick up groceries, a roommate to take out the trash, or simply remind one of your kids that they'll do great on an upcoming test. It works across Android phones, Google Assistant smart speakers and smart displays, including the Google Nest Hub Max when it launches next month.

Setting up a reminder seems like a simple process, as it only requires that you tell assistant who the reminder is for, what they should do, and at what time they should do it. For instance, saying something like "Hey Google, remind Greg to take out the trash at 8pm," will let Greg know that you've set a reminder for him and then surface the reminder on his phone, speakers, and smart display when 8:00 actually rolls around.

You'll be able to check the reminders you've set for other people – "Hey Google, what are my reminders for Greg?" – and you can also set location-based reminders instead of time-based ones. "Hey Google, remind Claire to pick up flowers when she gets to the San Francisco Ferry Building," would therefore surface that reminder for Claire when her phone detects that she's near the location you've named.

There are, unsurprisingly, a number of restrictions on who you can and cannot set reminders for. You can only set reminders for people who are in your family group or those who have their Google accounts linked to the same smart display or speaker you're using (they need to have voice match turned on as well).

They also need to be in your Google Contacts, so unfortunately for you pranksters out there, you won't be able to spam your friends with reminders throughout the day. Google says reminders will be going live in English in the US, UK, and Australia over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for its arrival.