What you need to know
- Google Assistant is getting a new feature called "Memory" that saves your content in one convenient place.
- Users will be able to save on-device or real-world items while extracting actionable operations from contextual information.
- The feature is currently in development, so it's unclear if it will ever reach end-users.
There are many ways that Google Assistant is helpful, and reminders are one of them. Once you know how to assign Google Assistant reminders, you can easily set reminders for yourself that work kind of like an alarm but a little less abrasive. And they work particularly well with devices with screens, including the best smart displays. It looks like Google may be looking to give the feature something of a revamp by combining it with the Google Discover Collections tab and slapping a new name on it.
The new "Memory" feature was spotted by 9to5Google, which was able to activate the feature and give an idea of how it'll function. The feature is described as "an easy, quick way to save and find everything in one place." Users can save reminders, thoughts, on-screen content, and even real-world things to Memory. It's not exactly clear what that last part entails, but it could mean taking photos of items that'll be saved in a separate space outside your gallery.
Memory will apparently be smart enough to save links to saved screenshots whenever a website is involved, which could be very useful if you want to go back to the content source. It will also pull contextual information and translate them into actions, like tracking a shipment or saving a date.
Any content saved to Memory will be organized into cards in a feed that will separate older memories from new ones created that day. According to 9to5Google, there will be special cards for any content related to Google's own apps like Google Docs or Sheets. Users will also be able to tag content as "important" or "read later" to organize their collections further.
9to5Google notes that users can save "articles, books, contacts, events, flights, hotels, images, movies, music, notes, photos, places, playlists, products, recipes, reminders, restaurants, screenshots, shipments, TV shows, videos, and websites."
It sounds like the Collections tab on the Google Discover feed, but with more AI input. It's not clear if this will completely replace Collections since it appears to be featured solely in Google Assistant at the moment, but it would make sense. Right now, Memory is in development and may not actually make it to release, but we'll keep an eye out.
