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Voice input on Android is a multilingual mess
Too many different methods with too many settings, and some are locked to your system defaults
Multilingual folks may have whole other worlds open to them as a result of their skills, but it can also be a point of frustration when using an Android phone — at least, when it comes to voice input. Google Assistant and Gboard have it bad enough, but apps like Google Maps and Chrome use a specific voice input method that rigidly follows the system language setting, turning that multilingual advantage into a pointless limitation.
Shortly after starting to test an all-in-one record-and-publish function in the YouTube app, its developers have added another experiment that'll be useful for those of us who'd rather only watch videos. They're working on a button that lets you switch voice search languages right on the input screen. If you're multilingual and like using voice search, this will finally make it possible to search for videos that aren't available in the language you've set up in your YouTube app settings.
Earlier this week, YouTube introduced several new features to its app with the hopes of making it more accessible and easier to use. The most noteworthy addition was that viewers can now use voice search when casting the YouTube app to their smart TV.
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- Another test for the widget has showed up, this time keeping the voice search button but also adding a home icon that takes you to your Discover feed. It's reminiscent of a server-side change we spotted over a year ago, so it seems that Google is still tinkering with that idea. Thanks, Xavier!
Google is no stranger to making unannounced changes to apps and services, and sometimes the changes don't even show up for all users or devices. At least some Android users have noticed an alteration to the Google Search widget today. The microphone icon is gone, replaced with Discover and Lens.
To me, the whole idea of using voice search when I can just as easily type the exact query I want isn't appealing, but perhaps I should start changing my perception. Google's voice recognition algorithms are getting better and smarter, and one of the areas where you can notice this improvement is YouTube. Even more appealing now is the fact that YouTube immediately starts playing a video when you do a voice search.
Voice is quickly becoming a preferred method of search for many mobile users, and Google is responding by pushing voice features to as many of its platforms and services as it can. The latest example is voice search on Google.com for mobile web. The tech giant began rolling out the new feature this past week, but it's only available to Android users so far.
The speech input interface that is seen in apps like YouTube and the Play Store hasn't been updated for some time. If I'm remembering correctly, the last time it was revised was when the new Google logo replaced the old one, but it had remained largely the same for years before that as well. The company is now testing a Material-based UI that is a much better match for Android's current aesthetic.
We've been hearing that Spotify is aiming to produce its own hardware for a few weeks now, and this latest news substantiates those rumors. A native voice search is being tested in the iOS app, pointing towards future integration with a Spotify-built smart speaker.
Speech recognition is one of the most powerful aspects of many Google products, particularly in the Google app where Voice Search relies on being able to understand what we're saying. The same is true of Gboard, which is capable of typing up entire messages based on what you dictate to it. We may take it for granted somewhat these days, but it truly is a marvel. Now, this feature can be enjoyed by many more around the globe as Google has added support for 30 further languages.
Many of us were happy to see the recent addition of a keyboard input method in Assistant and the setting to choose it as a preferred method. After all, many of us don't like to shout at our phones all the time because we either need some privacy, we're often in public, or we may simply not feel comfortable talking to an inanimate object.
To say that Waze is popular would be an understatement. The community-based traffic and navigation app has fans the world over, so when the developers add any new features, plenty are bound to notice. There's a new version out and it has a few additions, so let's take a look.
About two months ago, when Amazon announced two new Alexa-powered devices, the Echo Dot and Amazon Tap, many of you voiced the same thought: this is the kind of product Google should be working on. With "OK Google" commands being some of the most powerful voice search and personal assistants on the market, Google shouldn't have a lot of trouble inviting itself into your home and living room or making automation independent from your phone and more integrated with your life.
Google's various flavors of voice control are neat, not to mention extremely useful thanks to deep integration with Android. But Mountain View doesn't have a monopoly on speech interpretation: Microsoft has made a pretty compelling case for its cross-platform Cortana system, to say nothing of the similar entries from Apple and Amazon. SoundHound threw its hat in the ring last year with the semi-proprietary Hound app, though you had to be part of the beta to check it out. Today Hound gets a public launch, and everyone can play with it with no prerequisites.
Have you noticed an improvement in your phone's voice search or voice dictation capability in the last few days, especially in noisy environments? You can thank the Google Speech Team. They've implemented a new system for automated listening to human voices. Adding recurring neural network functionality to the system has allowed it to more accurately identify complete words instead of individual snippets of sound. From the Google Research Blog:
You know how you can press the little music icon while you're doing a Google voice search, and it will identify a song playing in the background Shazam-style? It looks like that functionality is making its way to the Android version of Google Play Music as well. A few of our readers and one Android Police staff member have seen the "listen for music" prompt while using the built-in search function in Google's default music player. It looks like this:
Google has found ways of letting us send text messages, perform search queries, and launch apps using our voice. Some of this functionality has made its way over to the desktop, such as asking Google questions. Starting now, if you open a tab to Google Docs, you can also write out documents.
Google really wants you to know that voice searches are a thing, so it's taken to rolling suggestions out to some users in the home screen search bar. We covered that the other day, but since then we've gotten a few tips that similar messages are appearing inside the Google app itself. See for yourself.
Amazon probably isn't the first company that comes to mind when you think of innovative gadgets. Not anymore, anyway. Hearing a company is producing a ho-hum smartphone based on Android isn't nearly as exciting as hearing about the Kindle for the first time. But with the Echo, the online retailer does have a cool piece of tech on its hands.
We've known that Microsoft has big plans for its Google Now-style Cortana service, and those extend beyond Windows on both the phone and desktop. The company has finally shared when it intends to make good on those plans. A blog post says that Cortana (named for the female AI in the Halo series of shooters) will be coming to Android as a beta sometime in July. Windows 10, which will include Cortana for desktops and laptops, is scheduled to be released on July 29th.
Google's voice search function is pretty impressive, especially if you compare it to some of the alternatives that we used to have. But it's by no means perfect - proper nouns and regional accents can sometimes throw it for a loop, necessitating manual text input. But if you'd rather give it another go while restricting your voice input to specific words, that's now an option. One of our readers found this particular tool - we're not sure how long it's been active in Google Search, but it's quite handy.