Google Assistant Now Available but Crippled - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Guides, News, & Discussion

Google Assistant is now natively available on many more devices including ours (I have an MTK Redmi Note-4). I can "OK Google" and ask it stuff. Fine. But it cannot DO anything such as phone home or create an event.
This problem has been previously reported by myself and others. Now is the time to do something about it.
Running the assistant from Allo or such will have it complain: Cannot make call until you unlock your phone. Does not mean the bootloader. I have the screen on in front of me so the device is not "locked."
Running as default voice-assist or the newly released native mode, attempts to make call or such will simply sit there and chug.
Device still has MIUI8 (8.5.6 is very buggy, please!).

Related

Thoughts on the Note 3 coming from Touch Pro2

With the Note3, and all that I have been reading, I was thinking the new phones have finally caught up. I hate to say it after spending the money, but the technology seems crude compared to the Touch Pro2. So far I've been quite disappointed.
1. With the Touch Pro2, I can hold down the button on the ear piece and say:
"Call Nicole at mobile"
it will come back with "Call Nicole at mobile?" and it will not be a robot voice. It will be as natural as a normal speech.
Then I answer either "Correct" or "Yes" and it makes the call.
I can also do this with the screen on, and pressing and holding the call button.
With the Galaxy, the screen must be off for it to work. I also have to turn it off or it keeps listening and getting confused. On my TP2 it's always on, but I need to push a button before sending it a command, not activate and deactivate it each time. This is a usability killer.
2. The S-Pen does no better job interpreting text than the TP2 does. Where the TP2 beats the stars out of the Note 3 is that with the TP2, it is simply another keyboard, just like Voice is, and it has little edit icons to fix things, again like voice. The writing area is where the keyboard would normally be, and it translates after the end of each sentence. Thus, any app you install that you can type in, can use it, such as in a Word document, with word wrap.
3. the Touch Pro2 can automatically record all of your conversations, and then ask you at the end if you want to save it. That saved me in a legal suite already where I could prove a $1300 error on a vendor's part. I've also used it countless time to forward conversations, which is far more effective and efficient than taking notes. I hope I can find an app for this that works as well.
4. I also use the TP2's voice recorder in meetings a lot in meetings. While I haven't tried one of them out yet, perhaps there is a Note 3 app that is just as good.
5. Full backups and restores were easy with the TP2, and it backed up via USB to your PC. You can clean it down to the nothing, and restore it completely, no rooting required because you always did have root.
6. With the TP2, you always have root, and you can custom flash to anything you want, and right back to factory if you want to. With the Note 3, everybody sweats warranty, no OTA updates, etc.
The problems with the TP2 is the hardware. Even overclocked it can be pretty slow at times, Microsoft turned of Bing turn-by-turn navigation for it, new apps are no longer written for it, no 4GL, and the list goes on. I like the flexibility that I'm used to from the TP2, but the iPhone app interfaces seem to be more natural and better thought out. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I didn't expect to be at this point after all of these years.
Any thoughts of what I may be missing would be appreciated.
1. If you havent, download and install google now and under settings check the box that allows you to use google now on any screen. Then you dont have to touch the phone just say "OK, Google" then your commamd such as call someone, I use it all the time especially when im driving.
2. Dont use this feature enough.
3. You can thank Verizon for this. The international variant has this feature, Verizon liking to have total control took this option away. There are 2 options though; most custom roms have that feature baked in call recording. And also there are apks out there that have been said to work really well such as AndroRec, automatically runs in the background (if you use this use mode 2 btw for best recording volume) and I believe tbis is a free apk.
4. Theres a stock android apk called voice recorder already installed on your phone. Look under your tools folder if you still have it completely stock, ive rearranged my apk draw so not sure where its at exactly but its there thats a basic apk thats preinstalled, and its simply called voice recorder.
5. You can do this to an extent using Titanium Backup, your Google account to back up apks and data, and even Verizon assistant. I just had to get a new phone 2 weeks ago and it took about 20 minutes on wifi for mt phone to auto download 95% of my old apks and sync all my contacts, email, photos, etc etc. No root required just signed into google services.
6. Dont blame the phone for lack of root. Thus is strictly an OEM/Carrier thing. As I said earlier Verizon goes in and changes things and request manufacturers to lock and block features out all the time. Every carrier does this, except for Apple every OEM listens. Including Google a la Galaxy Nexus. Its just carriers wanting the final say in a product just to hold it over the consumer as to say "It may be your phone, but we're still the boss". You cant hold this to the phone lacking.
The Note 3 and most android phones are great devices from the manufacturers. Sadly most phones are hampered by carrier needs and demands. Apple does make a great phone my wife switched from the GS3 to a 5s, and currently has a 6 plus, and I just ordered one myself for my business line. If you want a stock OS that isnt carrier modified with great support and updates thwn Apple is a great phone, you just cant modify/customize and even do as much with it as most Android phones. On ther flip side except for really Nexus devices, if you want a customizable phone with alot of tweaks and mods but for the most part be carrier locked down then go with Android. Its a rock and a hard plave thats for sure.
amebiasis said:
1. If you havent, download and install google now and under settings check the box that allows you to use google now on any screen. Then you dont have to touch the phone just say "OK, Google" then your commamd such as call someone, I use it all the time especially when im driving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It came on my phone. It's in the Google folder. However, I don't see a check box to allow using Google on any screen. When I turned S-Voice off, it takes over when I'm connected Bluetooth. It does not respond to "OK, Google" with the screen on or off. Perhaps there is a different one on play?
amebiasis said:
3. ...there are apks out there that have been said to work really well such as AndroRec
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is clearer than Automatic Call Recorder it seems, but it suffers from the same problem in that it doesn't record any calls that are made from a Bluetooth headset. (No doubt easily cured by root access)
amebiasis said:
4. Theres a stock android apk called voice recorder already installed on your phone. Look under your tools folder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And it works better than anything I've installed. Thank you.
amebiasis said:
5. You can do this to an extent using Titanium Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That requires root
amebiasis said:
...your Google account to back up apks and data, and even Verizon assistant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That wouldn't be legal for me. It must be local.
amebiasis said:
6. Dont blame the phone for lack of root. Thus is strictly an OEM/Carrier thing. As I said earlier Verizon goes in and changes things and request manufacturers to lock and block features out all the time. Every carrier does this, except for Apple every OEM listens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you get root with Apple? That would be interesting. Android is a Linux fork. IOS is a UNIX FreeBSD fork, and FreeBSD and Apple work together all the time. I moved all of our servers off Linux to FreeBSD, so the environment would probably be somewhat familiar.
amebiasis said:
...Apple does make a great phone my wife switched from the GS3 to a 5s, and currently has a 6 plus, and I just ordered one myself for my business line. If you want a stock OS that isnt carrier modified with great support and updates thwn Apple is a great phone, you just cant modify/customize and even do as much with it as most Android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being able to modify the looks is nice to have, but for me, Android+carriers doesn't give me the functionality I need and can get on a 2006 Touch Pro2. If I can get that functionality from an iPhone out of the box by adding a few apps, that makes sense. One other drawback that I heard though is the iPhones cannot walk and chew gum unless it is on a GSM carrier.
My needs are business needs:
1. A good local backup that I can restore the whole phone back to a previous point in time.
2. Local synchronization with Outlook desktop or exchange.
3. Automatically record both sides of telephone conversations, including when on Bluetooth.
4. Be able to initiate calls using my Bluetooth headset
5. Be able to use voice commands to initiate calls from the phone without the headset
6. Decent navigation
7. RDP so I can work on customer's and our servers.
8. VPN so I can work on customer's and our servers.
9. A good file manager like ES that can work over an SSH connection.
10. A good SSH terminal program like PuTTY.
My wants are:
1. Good speech to text. (I could care less about text to speech)
2. Good handwriting recognition in useful apps, like my TP2 has.
Thanks!
I installed "Google Now" from play, and it said it updated what was already on the phone. I haven't gotten the "OK, Google" to work, but when I press the microphone on the home screen and say "Call <somebody>", I get a popup that it wants all of my contacts. It even does that when I tell it the number to dial a number. Thus, needing them for voice purposes as indicated in the message is a deliberate lie. If I skip it, it does a web search on the phone number. I don't need to give them my contacts when I call via Bluetooth, and it works just fine. That indicates to me that Google doesn't need your contacts for voice purposes, it is selling your contacts to anyone who will pay. Those who would pay would only be unsavory characters.

can't control nest with Android wear

just got a zenwatch this week and I can't figure how to control my nest with it. I've got the google now integration turned on, and when I tell my phone to "set the temperature to 70 degrees" it changes it, but when I tell my watch it just brings up web results. am I missing something?
nobody has an answer?
could be that the android wear commands aren't being fed to google now on the phone.
if you are on kitkat, try using xposed, google now api and autovoice to send android wear commands to google now on the phone.
latest google now api can be found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/mod-google-search-api-t2554173/page42
when setting up my home automation system, i could not get voice commands via android wear to trigger events; commands via the phone worked fine. the above is what worked and is why i'm not upgrading to lollipop just yet (no xposed support for ART).
only option right now that i know of to feed android wear commands to google now on the phone on lollipop is via autowear and autovoice. works, but requires a few extra steps (as oppose to just "ok google, close garage door").
thanks, I've got 5.0.1. it just seems odd that there's no integration

A bug you probably didn't even know you had - Trusted voice disabling itself.

https://9to5google.com/2017/02/02/google-smart-lock-trusted-voice-pixel-fix/
Smart Lock is one of Android’s most underrated features and makes security less of a hassle. However, a recent bug keeps automatically disabling the ‘Trusted voice’ option, thus making “Ok Google” slightly less convenient. Fortunately, a fix has now been identified and is rolling out soon.
Trusted voice allows the “Ok Google” hotword to act as a password to unlock your device. It works by seeing if the uttered phrase at the start of a command matches your previously trained voice model. This is particularly useful when asking Google to perform a voice command that has a visual element, like surfacing images or getting directions.
In the past few months, several users on multiple devices have reported that the Trusted voice toggle located in settings of the Google app keeps turning off automatically. Even after re-enabling, the toggle would later be disabled. As such, getting the result of a voice command would require that users first enter a password.
Fortunately, a Google employee in the Pixel User Community notes that “the team has identified a fix, and it will be implemented soon.”Anecdotally, I have found that with the latest Google app beta (version 6.12), the Trusted voice toggle always stays enabled.
In the mean time, the following workaround should work until the patch is rolled out:
Go to Google app -> setting -> Accounts & privacy -> Google activity controls -> Voice & Audio Activity -> make sure it’s set to “on”
Ensure this setting is “on” for all accounts on the device
biggiestuff said:
https://9to5google.com/2017/02/02/google-smart-lock-trusted-voice-pixel-fix/
Smart Lock is one of Android’s most underrated features and makes security less of a hassle. However, a recent bug keeps automatically disabling the ‘Trusted voice’ option, thus making “Ok Google” slightly less convenient. Fortunately, a fix has now been identified and is rolling out soon.
Trusted voice allows the “Ok Google” hotword to act as a password to unlock your device. It works by seeing if the uttered phrase at the start of a command matches your previously trained voice model. This is particularly useful when asking Google to perform a voice command that has a visual element, like surfacing images or getting directions.
In the past few months, several users on multiple devices have reported that the Trusted voice toggle located in settings of the Google app keeps turning off automatically. Even after re-enabling, the toggle would later be disabled. As such, getting the result of a voice command would require that users first enter a password.
Fortunately, a Google employee in the Pixel User Community notes that “the team has identified a fix, and it will be implemented soon.”Anecdotally, I have found that with the latest Google app beta (version 6.12), the Trusted voice toggle always stays enabled.
In the mean time, the following workaround should work until the patch is rolled out:
Go to Google app -> setting -> Accounts & privacy -> Google activity controls -> Voice & Audio Activity -> make sure it’s set to “on”
Ensure this setting is “on” for all accounts on the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the most shameless self promotion of a crappy blog I've seen in awhile.
The whole article is about a miniscule bug about a feature that should NOT be used if you are interested in any sort of security. So claiming it makes security less of a hassle is idiotic when you can record the owner saying OK Google and unlock their phone.
:Facepalm: These forums are full of morons anymore
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Google Assistant

So I was wondering how many of you had gone through with implementing the buildprop change that enables Google AI. I decided to do it the other night and have been fiddling around with it since then. If you haven't done it, it basically turns Now-on-Tap into "Voice Search by default," but you can still do screen searches for things like USPS Tracking and Phone/Address Lookup. Voice searches are vastly improved; it will auto-start Navigation, fetch links as a list of cards (for example, miniaturized news feeds), open apps instantly (provided the phone isn't locked), and essentially just be all around snappier than Google Now/Now-on-Tap.
That said, it does bother me that the phone literally had to be rebranded as a Pixel to make this work. A) It's not the most stable change, and 2) that change is now reflected on any device/prompt that interacts with my phone. It managed to be picked up by adware on a sketchy site (don't ask what sketchy sites I go to), and my desktop also mislabels it on USB connection. Does anyone know if Motorola allows you to change the device name for USB connection? I know LG lets you.
But yeah, those are my thoughts on it. I might try it out for a week or two, and if I'm not exactly bowled over by it, I'll probably just go back to Now-on-Tap. But I wanted to hear your guys' thoughts.
I don't even use now-on-tap, and I've done the assistant bulildprop trick before, and it made little to no difference on how often I use both of them. I understand what you mean by having to rebrand it to a pixel though - Google shouldn't make this Pixel exclusive

Voice assistant

Hello.I have p9 lite vns-l31 with lineage os 14.1 installed.My question is : is there anything for android like siri on ios.And i know there are a lot of assistants but i need one which can be activated when the phone is locked by voice,for example when im driving and want to call someone or send a text
Well of course your best bet is the Google Assistant. It is the only one that is truly integrated in the system and the Google apps.
All that you have listed is basically possible with the Google Assistant.
However, your point with the locked device is a question of hardware, not software!
In order to activate the Assistant by saying a hotword while the device is LOCKED requires a phone with a special microphone.
Such device have low consumption microphones.
You could compare it to the Double Tap to Wake function: most device do not support it because they do not have the proper kernel / touchscreen for it.
A device that allows you to activate a voice command while locked always has to listen to its surroundings. While it is possible with modification to enable it on most devices, it will definitely consume a lot of battery on devices that are not built for this function.
Therefore, the Google Assistant is "Google's Siri" and works very well as long as you manually activate your screen first. There are tutorials out there on how to enable "OK, Google" recognition on locked devices but I do not know if they work on Lin OS already.
I hope this answers your question.
Schlengge said:
Well of course your best bet is the Google Assistant. It is the only one that is truly integrated in the system and the Google apps.
All that you have listed is basically possible with the Google Assistant.
However, your point with the locked device is a question of hardware, not software!
In order to activate the Assistant by saying a hotword while the device is LOCKED requires a phone with a special microphone.
Such device have low consumption microphones.
You could compare it to the Double Tap to Wake function: most device do not support it because they do not have the proper kernel / touchscreen for it.
A device that allows you to activate a voice command while locked always has to listen to its surroundings. While it is possible with modification to enable it on most devices, it will definitely consume a lot of battery on devices that are not built for this function.
Therefore, the Google Assistant is "Google's Siri" and works very well as long as you manually activate your screen first. There are tutorials out there on how to enable "OK, Google" recognition on locked devices but I do not know if they work on Lin OS already.
I hope this answers your question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow.Didnt expect such a good answer.In that case,I will try and install google assistant,and just keep my screen on while I drive
sirjohnrl said:
Wow.Didnt expect such a good answer.In that case,I will try and install google assistant,and just keep my screen on while I drive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it can be a little complicated to get it to run though so good luck
Also as far as i know it only support english and german so far.
But they are working in it
Schlengge said:
Well of course your best bet is the Google Assistant. It is the only one that is truly integrated in the system and the Google apps.
All that you have listed is basically possible with the Google Assistant.
However, your point with the locked device is a question of hardware, not software!
In order to activate the Assistant by saying a hotword while the device is LOCKED requires a phone with a special microphone.
Such device have low consumption microphones.
You could compare it to the Double Tap to Wake function: most device do not support it because they do not have the proper kernel / touchscreen for it.
A device that allows you to activate a voice command while locked always has to listen to its surroundings. While it is possible with modification to enable it on most devices, it will definitely consume a lot of battery on devices that are not built for this function.
Therefore, the Google Assistant is "Google's Siri" and works very well as long as you manually activate your screen first. There are tutorials out there on how to enable "OK, Google" recognition on locked devices but I do not know if they work on Lin OS already.
I hope this answers your question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The P9s have Emy, their own assistant, that works without touching it even with screen locked. It also has a "where are you" function if you yell for it.

Categories

Resources