Hey Google, Happy Birthday! Google Assistant is Five Years Old!

Today, on 18th May 2016, five years ago, Google Assistant and Google Home were announced at the Google I/O 2016. Time flies by for the young ones. Can you imagine our smart little fellow is already five years old? Time to celebrate and look into the highlights of our youngest assistant.

In this post, we will look back at five years full of amazing features. Just tap on the links to read more on the Google Blog. Also, prepare yourself for a trip around the world, stopping by wherever Google Home was released. To make it more fun, we’ve included regional clips provided by Google, where available. Additionally, we will have a look at announced features coming soon. (Well, naturally after the Google I/O 2021.)

And, we could not resist adding clips not created by Google, but they are funny. Or maybe not, let’s see.

Note, please make sure that your Google Assistant/Home’s mic is muted when watching the videos. We don’t want to confuse our little assistant with the many “Hey Google’s” that we can hear in these clips. Not on his birthday.

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

18th May 2016: Google Assistant and Google Home Unveiled

Here’s the original, very first Google Home video directly from the almost two hours Google I/O 2016 keynote. No worries, we’re jumping straight into the the short Google Home clip, enjoy!

Then we had to wait for half a year.

On November 4th, 2016 our Google Home preorders were finally delivered (in the US).

The initial release was already full of features. You can check out the full list of features from Google Support. Not all of them were available back then, but we’ll highlight when the big ones arrived.

2017, Google Home arrives in 6 Countries

On March 31st, 2017 (obviously one day before April 1st) Google released a funny introduction of “Google Gnome” for our smart yards, and now they removed it. Let’s check out this older April 1st video: Google knows, ahem nose:

April 6th, 2017 Google Home comes to the UK

Please note, this Google clip is actually from April 4th, 2018, with Kevin Durant looking forward to tomorrows Royal Wedding. It’s more fun than the original Google Home UK clip.

April 21st, 2017: Google introduces multi-user support: Our little assistant can now recognize up to six different voices, and fetch information from the different accounts, depending on who’s talking. Let’s call mum  …

May 17th, 2017: Google I/O 2017

On Google I/O 2017, Google announced to bring Google Home to Germany, France, Japan, Canada, and Australia. And, they kept their promise.

Following new features were announced:

• “Hands-free calling” (only for US and Canada initially)
• “Proactive Assistance” turned actually into proactive reminders.
• “Visual Responses” let us send answers from Google Home to our Chromecast-enabled TVs.
• “Bluetooth audio streaming“, will be released March 28th, 2018!
• “Schedule calendar appointments“, with support for reminders.
• “Shortcuts“: where we can define the command and specify what Google Home hears as the command. Note, shortcuts are currently being transferred to Custom Routines.

June 26th, 2017: Google Home arrives in Canada

This is how the Toronto Raptors practice with the help of their Google Home Mini:

July 20th, 2017: Google Home comes to Australia

We initially showed you here how a kookaburra sounds in Australian English, but the Google Ad was removed, so here’s how Google helps with your music in Australia:

August 3rd, 2017: Google Home arrives in France

No, we cannot hear, how a Hippo sounds in French, because Google removed the ad. Here’s how the Google Nest Mini helps in France:

August 8th, 2017: Google Home comes to Germany

And in case you think, Google reused the ad from France in Germany, you’re right. But the German version is bit longer:

On September 25th, 2017: Google supports now voice-shopping at Wallmart.

October 4th, 2017: Google Home Mini & Google Home Max announced (arriving later on December 11th, 2017).

October 6th, 2017: Google Home arrives in Japan

Finally, one of the original ads. Here’s how a whale sounds in Japanese …

29th November 2017: We can string two commands together if only one command requires a response: “Hey Google, dim the lights and play smooth Jazz”.

2018 – More Languages, More Countries, More Features

On January 10th, 2018: At CES 2018, LG, JBL, and Lenovo announce Google Assistant integrations with displays. LG will become available for preorder Mid March 2018.

February 23rd, 2018: Google announces over 30 languages will be supported by Google Assistant this year.

March 4th, 2018: “Make Google Do It” – Clip Collection

A Google marketing initiative, which we’ve missed back then, so let’s do this now:

“Get it, get it, get it, get it
Flip it, tip it, dip it, …”

Here’s a flower story from Sia:

And, another one with John Legend and Chrissy Teigen:

Finally, Kevin Durant must not forget Gummy Bears!

March 15th, 2018, Google releases 6 ready-made Routines:

• Good morning
• Bedtime
• Leaving home
• I’m home
• Commuting to work
• Commuting home

On March 28th, 2018, Google announced, that we are finally able to pair our Google Homes with Bluetooth speakers. 

April 3rd, 2018: Google Home comes to Italy

Though this YouTube clip is from December 27th, 2017, it’s so much better than the official Italian clip. “Hey Google, play piemontesina bella”.

April 10th, 2018: Google Home arrives in India

When scary movies leave you reaching for soothing songs, make Google do it:

May 3rd,2018: Google announces support for over 5000 smart home devices.

May 8th, 2018, Google I/O 2018:

Google announced:

• 7 more countries to come in 2018: Spain, Mexico, South Korea, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
• “6 new voices”: well, we got 7, so altogether 8 with the original Assistants voice. Awaiting John Legend, let’s see …
• “Continued conversation”: We won’t have to say “Hey Google” or “OK Google” for follow-up requests. Let’s see …
• “Multiple Actions“: Note, this one already rolled out: we’re able to ask for multiple things at the same time: “What’s the weather like in New York and in Tokio?”. Before, it was only possible with one response.
• “Pretty Please”: is an option for families, which we’ll be able to enable for any household member. This feature will require Family Link.
• Custom Routines: “For example, you can create a Custom Routine for family dinner, and kick it off by saying “Hey Google, dinner’s ready” and the Assistant can turn on your favorite music, turn off the TV, and broadcast “dinner time!” to everyone in the house. Later this summer, you’ll be able to schedule Routines for a specific day or time either using the Assistant app or through the Google Clock app for Android.”
• “Duplex“: a feature to let Google Assistant book appointments for us.

Thinking about Duplex and how far it goes, maybe the one “which was on us”, will turn into Google’s? (Watch out, this is a parody of Duplex. It gets a bit rough after 0:39 … )

On May 16th, 2018: Google Home Max arrives in Canada.

June 19th, 2018: Google Home launches in Austria, Spain, and Ireland!

Here’s how you can play Games of Thrones with Google Home in Spain:

On June 21st, 2018: Google Home rolls out continued conversation!

June 26th, 2018: Google Home lands in Mexico!

July 5th, 2018: Google Assistant supports Thai and Indonesian.

July 29th, 2018: Google Assistant understands Dutch and Russian.

September 2nd, 2018: Google Home becomes bilingual

A powerful feature and USP compared to Siri. Google Home understands 2 languages simultaneously, ideal for bilingual households:

September 4th, 2018: Google Home Max arrives in UK and Germany

September 11th, 2018: IFA 2018 in Berlin

Google summarized his announcements in our AI-News episode 5. Check out our other episodes, with many news we cannot cover here.

September 18th, 2018: Google Home arrives in South Korea.

September 21st, 2018: Google Assistant understands Swedish, Norwegian and Danish.

October 9th, 2018: Google Home Hub arrives in US, UK, and Australia.

November 9th, 2018: Google Home understands Brasilian.

November 30th, 2018:  Google rolls out “Pretty Please”.

December 20th, 2018: Google Home Alone Again Ad

2019, More Languages, More Countries, More Privacy

January 19th, 2019: Google Assistant understands Polish.

February 6th, 2019: Spotify gives away Google Home Mini to premium subscribers.

February 8th, 2019: Google Home can now translate with his interpreter mode!

March 8th, 2019: Continued Conversation rolls out on Smart Displays.

April 1st, 2019: Google Tulip Talk to Your Plants

Google helps you to talk to your plants:

April 3rd, 2019: John Legend arrives on Google Home. We were guessing, is it the green voice? No. Finally, a couple of sound snippets by John Legend were released, not his voice.

April 18th, 2019: Free Ad-supported music. Don’t ask. Let’s hope Google Play Music will soon be merged into YouTube Music.

May 7th, 2019: The Google I/O 2019

The Google I/O 2019 brought us around 100 announcements, let’s try to summarize:

• Google Home will be renamed to Google Nest! The Google Nest Hub has changed his name already, Google Home will follow later according to his Product Manager. The idea is to bring the Home products and Nest brand together to create a helpful home.
• “Works with Nest” program will be discontinued per August 31, 2019 (this will be revised later).
• We can now stop a timer or alarm that we set on Google Home speakers and Smart Displays by simply saying, “stop” (Without having to say: “Hey/Ok Google”).
• Google Nest Hub, formerly Google Home Hub, is now available in 12 more countries: Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, and Sweden.
• Google puts a focus on privacy: with new privacy commitments.
• Federated learning will allow Google’s AI products to work better for us and everyone, without collecting raw data from our devices.
• The next generation Assistant will run on-device and answer queries up to 10 times faster, with almost zero latency. It will come to Pixel phones later this year.
• Google is launching a preview for Local Home SDK that lets smart home developers bring a new level of speed and reliability to smart home devices. Command executions can then be performed locally.
• There’s a new member in the Google Home, sorry, Nest family: Google Nest Hub Max

May 16th, 2019: Well, Google will extend the “Works with Nest” beyond August 31st. Google releases new tutorials to make your smart home more accessible.

May 28th, 2019: Google Assistant comes to Belgium.

August 15th, 2019: AI-News special: We’re eavesdropping on Siri, Alexa and Google.

August 15th, 2019: Google lets us assign reminders to someone else.

September 5th, 2019: IFA 2019 – The Google Assistant comes to more new speakers, phones, headphones, TVs, and smart home appliances.

September 18th, 2019: Google Assistant gets a new voice in nine more languages: German, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Italian, Korean, Japanese, English in the U.K. and English in India.

September 23rd, 2019: Google is finally doing more to protect our privacy.

September 26th, 2019: The Xbox One works now with the Google Assistant.

October 10th, 2019: Google gets another celebrity voice: “Hey Google, talk like Issa”

October 15th, 2019: The Made by Google Event unveils:

• Pixel 4 is here to help,
• Boost your home’s signal and style with Nest Wifi,
• Nest Mini brings twice the bass and an upgraded Assistant,
• Meet the new Google Pixel Buds.

October 22nd, 2019: Nest Mini hits the shelves.

October 30th, 2019: Google Assistant supports SiriusXM.

December 12th, 2019: The realtime translation “Interpreter mode” comes to Android and iOS phones.

2020, No Google I/O

January 6th, 2020: The University of Waterloo unveils how Google looks like.

January 7th 2020: CES 2020 brings a more helpful Google Assistant for your every day. Check out our summary for Google Assistant.

January 28th, 2020: Google and the Super Bowl

Here’s Loretta, Google’s Super Bowl Commercial 2020:

February 3rd, 2020: Google releases their Tile integration. Ask the Google Assistant to find your keys.

March 4th, 2020: Easier access to web pages on your phone. Ask Google Assistant to read them aloud.

April 16th, 2020: For all those staying at home, Google releases a little help how to get through the day.

June 11th, 2020: We can now adjust the sensitivity for “Hey Google” in the Google Home app, which should help if our assistant frequently mishears his wake word and interrupts our conversations. Don’t miss our post: “Siri, Alexa, and Google: The Silent Listeners” for a how-to catch the silent listeners by enabling a sound when they start to listen.
Furthermore, we can now also select a default music speaker for any Google Assistant enabled device.

June 25th, 2020: Nest Hub Max supports now group video calls for up to 32 people.

July 21st, 2020: We can watch Netflix on the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max.

August 18th, 2020: A new multi-room audio control allows us to dynamically group cast enabled devices, move music from one room to another, stereo pair Nest Minis, and ask for music recommendations.

September 22nd, 2020: We can watch Disney+ on the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max.

September 30th, 2020: Nest Audio Unveiled

The not-so-good-looking Nest Audio is released. But, it is 75% louder and has a 50% stronger bass than our lovely original Google Home.

October 8th, 2020: Siri Shortcuts come to Android apps. Just kidding, it’s Google Assistant Shortcuts, but otherwise, it’s the same idea. Apps can donate functionality to Google Assistant so that we can control them with our voice. We can also create custom phrases for frequently used shortcuts.

October 19th, 2020: Google announces many new features for smart displays:

• a redesigned layout,
• music and video suggestions on the Media page,
• a redesigned home control page,
• a discover page for new features,
• a dark theme,
• a morning page with calendar, news, and weather information, which evolves throughout the day into your afternoon page,
• and later into an evening page with sleep timer and relaxing sounds,
• and finally: a sunrise alarm which gradually increases the brightness 30 minutes before the alarm goes off.

December 7th, 2020: Apple Music comes to Google smart speakers and displays. By the way, don’t miss our infamous “OK Google, Play Some Music! Your list of all Google Music Commands!”

2021 – Google I/O in 3, 2, 1!

January 13th, 2021: Google supports a guest mode, where it won’t display your personal results until you turn the mode off.

March 16th, 2021: Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen

Google releases a second-generation Nest Hub. It has a 50% stronger bass than the original Hub and a built-in radar sensor that recognizes quick gestures for playback and pausing just by tapping the air in front of the display. The same sensor can monitor your sleep, for free until next year. Which somehow indicates that it’s going to be a subscription service from next year on.

April 14th, 2021: Google announces five new ways how Google Assistant can make the day a little easier:

• “Hey Google, find my phone” will send a notification and play a ringing sound, even on an iPhone, if it’s not on mute.
• Google Assistant can help to complete purchases faster for faster takeouts.
• Google Assistant Routines support now sunrise and sunset as trigger.
• We can add shortcut icons for our favorite routines to the Android Home Screen.
• Google answers questions about the Oscars.

May 18th, 2021, Google I/O 2021

In case you missed the Google I/O keynote, you can watch it here:

We will update this section with a summary as soon as Google I/O 2021 is over.

Let’s summarize …

So, here we are, around the world in a couple of minutes!

Google Home’s first five years, packed with cool features and announcements. Welcomed home in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Sometimes we’re not on speaking terms with our little assistant. There were a couple of disappointments in the beginning. First, Philips Hue scenes were missing and then, finally, when everything was supported, the Philips Hue Zones (beta) and the Google HomeGraph started to misbehave. Also, it took quite some time and effort to get the Logitech Harmony and Google integration running after many initial bugs.

However, Google’s Nanoleaf Aurora support was a pleasant surprise from the very beginning. And the ability to voice-control any infrared controlled device through Logitech Harmony is quite impressive. Our little assistant can basically control any device through a smart plug, like our venta airwashers.

Last but not least, let’s not forget our favorite feature: Google Routines, which we’ve covered in Google Routines: How to Automate your Life with Google Assistant and Google Routines: Immersive Storytelling with Ambient Scenes and Sounds.

Looking into what our little helpful fellow has achieved over these five years, we’re really impressed. Let’s forgive him the little glitches and celebrate his day!

Hey Google,

• Happy Birthday!
• Bon anniversaire!
• Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
• お誕生日おめでとうございます
• Buon compleanno!
• जन्मदिन की शुभकामनाएं
• Tillykke med fødselsdagen!
• Breithlá shona!
• 생일 축하해.
• Fijne verjaardag!
• Gratulerer med dagen!
• Grattis på födelsedagen!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this post!

Have a great Google Birthday Day!

P.S. You can find more Google Home posts here.

P.P.S. Here is Alexa’s surprise remix from Google’s 3rd Birthday: “This is what I think of love!”