Google Assistant on iPad Has Arrived (With Multitasking Too)

I’ve got Cortana on my Windows PC. I’ve got Alexa in my Amazon Echo and Sonos One. If you’re on the hunt to populate your digital world with even more virtual assistants and you happen to be an iPerson, you’re in luck. Google Assistant has now arrived on the iPad too.

Yes, I know. You already have a strangely intimate relationship with Siri and she already knows all the finer details of your personal life. And yes, maybe you’ve already spent some time with Google Assistant on your iPhone ever since it (she?) made its (her?) way over there last year.

But now, now you’ve got Google Assistant on iPad too. The core functionality is identical to what you get with Assistant on iPhone, except now you get to do all those things on a bigger screen that can be used in either portrait or landscape mode as your preferences desire.

Among the key features and abilities that Google highlights for Assistant on the iPad are the ability to “dim the lights” to set the mood, “watch the latest news on the living room TV” to cast content to your television, “text Lauren” to stay in touch with the significant other, and “remind me to take out the recycling by 8 PM” so you don’t miss pickup.

And thanks to iOS 11, you can multitask with Google Assistant on your iPad while you go about doing other things on there, like playing a game or checking your calendar. Pretty cool! So, now you’ve got Cortana, Siri and Google Assistant all playing friendly on the same device.