Google has been very forward about their intentions to extend the reach of their smart-helper, the Google Assistant. As the exponential expansion of the Assistant across various platforms and third-party hardware continues to grow, so do her abilities.
As the Assistant learns new tricks, Google has decided to give users another voice option for those who might prefer a male’s voice. According to a report from 9to5Google last month, a second voice option named ‘Jay’ was found in the APK teardown of version 7.12 of the Google App.
As you can see in the image below, option number one is the default female voice we have all come to know in the Assistant. Here, it is named Holly even though Google and the Assistant herself insist it is simply “Google Assistant”.
Image Credit: 9to5Google
Voice option number two is named ‘Jay’ and a recent update to the Google App has brought the second Assistant online. The names have been dropped but you now have the option to chose a male voice for your Assistant if that’s your preference.
To check out the “new guy”, just open your Google App or Google Home App on your mobile device and go to the Settings menu. From there head to Google Assistant Settings and Preferences. Click the Assistant Voice Tab and check out the new option.
This is a great new feature for the ever-evolving Google Assistant. I suspect we will see many more new additions to the Assistant’s repertoire in the near future as Google pushes their AI-first initiative.
Stay tuned for more.