At the moment Google Assistant is an exclusive feature to the Pixel handsets, and we had to wonder if eventually Google could open it up to other devices as well (not counting Google Home). Turns out that they might, according to a recent tweet by 9to5Google’s Stephen Hall who revealed that Google Assistant could soon find its way to the Nexus 5X/6P.
According to Hall’s tweet, it seems that the voice assistant could find its way onto Google’s Nexus handsets in the next “major” update, which is unclear as to when that might be. Hall also points out how a Googler had recently posted on Google+ that the Nexus Player will also be getting Google Assistant, so the idea of the feature arriving on Nexus handsets doesn’t really seem like that much of a stretch.
Was recently told that Assistant is finally coming to Nexus 5X/6P soon with next “major” update.
— Stephen Hall (@hallstephenj) February 2, 2017
With the Pixel handsets, Google has been attempting a different strategy than the one they employed with the Nexus, where certain features, such as Google Assistant, would be exclusive to the Pixel phones. Even the Pixel’s launcher was different from the Nexus handsets, so it is clear that Google sees the Pixels as more than just a phone that runs on vanilla Android.
Either way we suppose this is good news, assuming the information is accurate, but do check back with us in the coming weeks/months to see when this alleged “major” update will be arriving. In the meantime there’s an unofficial method to getting Google Assistant on your phone, with the instructions posted on XDA.
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