Google Assistant Could Land On Apple's iPhone As Standalone iOS App
Google apps on Apple’s iOS platform aren’t exactly a foreign concept these days. The bulk of the search giant’s productivity, communications and webmaster tools are available on the iPhone including apps like Gmail, Google+, Google Drive, Google Docs and even Google Analytics. But one particular service that has since been reserved for Android devices might soon make the leap to iPhones: the Google Assistant.
This information comes from Android Police, which typically has a good track record with regards to unreleased Android software features. According to the site, the standalone Google Assistant iOS app will “likely feature a blend of the "chat" style functionality in the Google Allo version of Assistant and the voice-controlled version found on Android”.
Google is expected to make an announcement regarding the iOS version of Assistant at this week’s Google I/O conference, which runs from May 17th through May 19th.
The move by Google to bring the Assistant to iOS shouldn’t be too surprising, as Microsoft and Amazon have ported their respective Cortana and Alexa voice assistants over to the iPhone and iPad. And while Cortana, Alexa and the Google Assistant won’t be able to have deep-rooted connections to iOS system services and apps, it does allow each to spread their ecosystems to competing platforms.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see how many iPhone owners are willing to sidestep the “home team” Siri in order to shack up with the Google Assistant. In the end, this will likely be an added bonus for people that prefer iPhone hardware and iOS, but are still beholden to Google services.
