Google App beta update could bring multi-user hotword detection

The latest beta update to Google App reveals that Google could at last bring multi-user support where you can train Google Assistant to recognize up to two different voices.

Google Assistant is one of the most advanced virtual assistants out there, but one feature that’s long been missing is multi-user support. The Google Home app suddenly added a card that announced multi-user support just two days ago, only to be retracted by Google the day after. Well, if you were looking forward to that feature, don’t be too disappointed just yet because judging by the latest beta update to Google App, the search giant might be bringing multi-user support to Google Assistant after all.

The latest beta version – version 7.0.4 – began rolling out to some users today, and according to Mishaal Rahman from XDA Developers, the APK teardown of the app reveals a few features that might be coming to Google Assistant in the near future. The first is a new activity screen that will help guide users register multiple voices. Judging by the new strings within the app, Google Assistant might soon learn to recognize up to two voices. Though two may not be enough for a big family, it certainly is better than just one.

The teardown also reveals that the Google Home app might get a new feature where you get to rate the services that are provided. However, the real mystery is the reference to a yet-to-be-announced device named “Bisto.” There is nothing substantial in the teardown that can tell us what this device might be, but one of the strings mentions notifications being “read aloud inside your headphones” through Bisto. Though we will have to wait and see, Bisto could be Google’s answer to Apple’s hearables – the AirPods.

Do you think multi-user support for Google Assistant will be useful? What do you think Bisto could be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!