Story by
Owen Williams
Former TNW employeeOwen was a reporter for TNW based in Amsterdam, now a full-time freelance writer and consultant helping technology companies make their word Owen was a reporter for TNW based in Amsterdam, now a full-time freelance writer and consultant helping technology companies make their words friendlier. In his spare time he codes, writes newsletters and cycles around the city.
Google Now just got an update so you can ask it to send messages using your favorite services.
In the past, you could say “OK, Google, send a message to Owen” and it would just send via your default messaging app. Now you can specify which app to use by saying “OK, Google, send a WhatsApp message to Owen” and it’ll pick the right app.
It supports WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Telegram and NextPlus in English at launch, though Google plans to add more support for apps and languages in the future.
Google Now supporting third-party apps for voice messaging is awesome news, particularly for countries that don’t use SMS very much.
Later this year in Android M, you’ll also be able to use Google ‘Now on Tap’ to get contextual information inside apps without having to leave.
➤ Ask Google to send your messages via WhatsApp, Viber and more [Inside Search]
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