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Google Assistant actions can now talk about religion, eldercare, and city services

Google Home.
Image Credit: Screenshot

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A new batch of third-party Google Assistant actions are now available to chat with on a Google Home. New ways to speak with Google’s AI assistant focus on eldercare, prayer, and city services.

One new action points you toward bus times in Singapore, another toward pool times in Seattle, and another garbage pick-up times in Auburn, Alabama. Los Angeles recently became one of the first major cities to launch an Alexa skill.

CareGeneral is designed to help groups track and improve the consistency of family caregiving. My Buddy is one of the most popular Alexa skills; on Google it gives people the ability to alert family or friends if you fall and can’t get up or are other debilitated.

Finally, Faithlife gives access to prayer lists and Bible verses, and Pray Together lets you send and receive prayers.


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Google Assistant product lead Jason Douglas told VentureBeat in a phone interview that actions will be rolled out based on partners’ schedules; however, actions thus far appear to have been released in batches.

More than 30 actions were released by Food Network, WebMD, and other early partners in the days following the launch of the Actions on Google platform for the creation of Google Assistant actions last month.

Some weeks later, BuzzFeed, Wall Street Journal, and a series of math-related actions were released.

Google Assistant can be found in Google Home, Pixel smartphones, Chromecast, and soon Android TVs, Hyundai cars, and other devices.