Google Assistant can now remind your lazy housemate to do the washing up

google assistant
(Image credit: Google)

If you share your home with others, chances are that you regularly text them reminders, whether that's taking out the trash or picking up some bread on their way home from work. 

That can get pretty tedious – but Google Assistant may have a better solution, with the announcement that the voice assistant can now assign reminders to different people in your household. 

So, instead of sending nagging texts to your loved ones, you can simply say “hey Google, remind Sarah to pay rent on the last day of every month,” and she'll receive a notification on her Google Home smart speaker or smart display, as well as her phone. 

You can even set location-based reminders; for example, a reminder for Sarah to buy bread when she gets to the grocery store. When Google Assistant recognizes that she has arrived at the shop, the reminder will pop up on her phone. 

google assistant

The Google Home Hub (Image credit: Google)

Family first

You can only send and receive reminders to people in your Google family group, or those who have their accounts linked to the same smart display or speaker as you. 

If you don't like the idea of receiving reminders from your family members, you can always block them; to do this, head to the new 'assignable reminders' section in your Google Assistant settings. 

Google says that the new feature is "rolling out over the next few weeks in English on phones, speakers and smart displays in the US, UK and Australia, and will work with Google Nest Hub Max" – when it's available later this year. 

Olivia Tambini

Olivia was previously TechRadar's Senior Editor - Home Entertainment, covering everything from headphones to TVs. Based in London, she's a popular music graduate who worked in the music industry before finding her calling in journalism. She's previously been interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live on the subject of multi-room audio, chaired panel discussions on diversity in music festival lineups, and her bylines include T3, Stereoboard, What to Watch, Top Ten Reviews, Creative Bloq, and Croco Magazine. Olivia now has a career in PR.