Google Assistant is sending "Your News Update" to the bin following the company's announcement about streamlining it. Through this feature, those who use the digital assistant could listen to audio news updates straight from their device.
Google Assistant Says Goodbye to 'Your News Update'
LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 09: A sign for the Google Assistant is displayed during CES 2018 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center on January 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 12 and features about 3,900 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 170,000 attendees.
9to5Google first reported that the "Your News Update" feature was no longer available in Google Assistant last week. Over a couple of years, the company has been rolling out this service for those who want to stream audio news updates.
Originally, the "News Briefing" was launched for users who want to hear short shows. They could also re-order the audio at that time.
When compared to the said feature, "Your News Update" offers a lot of stories with various natures. Such that, you can pay attention to a specific update that will depend on your current location, preferences, and even your interests.
If you want to know more about the local news in your town, this would be a helpful tool to catch up with what's happening in your vicinity. Upon enabling it through Google Assistant, it will tell you about "which publishers and updates are next" in-between the audio files.
Apart from being ditched to the Google Assistant, "Your News Update" was also scraped to the Explore tab of the Google Podcasts. The search engine giant announced the news following a report from Gizmodo earlier this week.
"We're streamlining our audio news products to improve users' experience. People will still be able to get audio briefings through News Briefings on Google Assistant," a company spokesperson said.
Google's News Briefing Feature
In the same report, Gizmodo mentioned that the removal of "Your News Update" will not mean stripping away to listen to news updates. Simply, this indicates that you can no longer make your own playlist about the news outlets of your choice.
Somehow, you can still use the News Briefing offered by Google Assistant. Whether the news is from Fox, Reuters, and other outlets, you can listen to their content in a particular order.
Now that "Your News Update" is now out on the platform, we could only hope for the News Briefings to remain in the Google Assistant in the next few years to come.
Google Assistant Quick Phrases and 'Material You'
In September, Google announced that it ditched "Hey Google" with the introduction of the Quick Phrases feature. At that time, it was still in the development stage so people could still not access it.
Google said that ditching "Hey Google" will only work on some tasks through the Voice Match function. In addition, the system will detect your voice on certain activities like making a reminder and even setting an alarm.
You can enable this feature by selecting a task you want to accomplish. Add it right away to the "Your salsas" section.
In the same month, the company introduced a fresh update for the "Material You." According to the report, the Google Assistant now received a fresh interface featuring a new border and colors.
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Written by Joseph Henry
