Google announced that original Pixel phones are scheduled to receive a final security update in December, marking the end of support for the Pixel phones released back in 2016. Along with the latest Pixel 4 series, Google unveiled a significantly redesigned Google Assistant. Now some of those changes are rolling out on the older phones in a 'compact' version.
Until now, only Pixel 3 series phones have received the compact Assistant upgrade. In the new upgrade, results to queries no longer take up all of your screen. Instead, minimal space required to display the result is used. In sharp contrast to results filling the entire screen previously, now results to uncomplicated queries take up the bottom third of the screen. Weather consumes two-thirds of the panel.
The compact Assistant bears a smaller panel without transparent look, present in the Pixel 4. The Assistant icon is located in the top-left corner and greets with "Hi, how can I help?" when invoked. Profile avatars are situated to the right and always visible. Shortcuts for "What's on my screen?" or "Share screenshot" appear right under the greeting. It may be noted that this upgrade does not offer any other of the key features of the Pixel 4's new Assistant. It does not have continued conversation and screen context features. The redesign still makes use of old pills to launch Lens, voice, and the keyboard. The Updates feed can still be accessed by swiping up. While the UI may be slightly revamped, it does'nt match the feature set of Assistant on the Pixel 4.
It is not yet certain that a similar Assistant update will be rolled out on Pixel 2 series phones. Contrarily, it is improbable that original Pixel phones will be getting the 'compact' Google Assistant.
Source: 9to5Google
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