Google Assistant is Google’s voice-controlled smart assistant. It’s was originally an upgrade or extension of Google Now – designed to be personal – while expanding on Google’s existing “OK Google” voice controls.

Originally, Google Now smartly pulled out relevant information for you: it knew where you work, and it knew your meeting locations and travel plans, the sports teams you liked, and what interested you so that Now could present you with personal information that mattered. Google has long killed the Google Now brand, but Assistant very much lives in the same space but fuses these personalized elements with a wide range of voice control.

The “OK Google” or “Hey, Google” side covers voice commands, voice searching, and voice-activated device control, letting you do things like sending messages, check appointments and so on your Android device, just like Apple’s Siri on an iPhone or iPad, but reaching far beyond that, with a bot-centric AI experience, designed to give you conversational interactions.