The Google Assistant is now available as a standalone app on the Play Store for the Android Go edition devices. This is a lightweight version of the Google Assistant that is available currently through the Google app on all Android devices.
We don’t have an Android Go edition phone in hand to give the new Google Assistant Go app a test drive, but as far as the Play Store description of the app goes, certain features of the Assistant such as reminders, controls for smart home devices, Actions on Google, and Device Actions are not currently available for Android Go devices through this app.
Also, there’s probably no way to use Assistant hands-free on Android Go devices as the Play Store description states users can launch the Google Assistant for Android (Go edition) by tapping on the Assistant app icon or by long-pressing the home button. This is lame for a voice-based assistant but it’s probably for the best since Android Go devices are going to be super cheap Android phones, and they may not feature the hardware required for smooth running of Google Assistant with voice triggers such as “Ok Google”.
If you want to give this app a go, you have to have an Android Go edition phone to download it from the Play Store (link below). We don’t have the Google Assistant Go APK file with us yet, but we’ll do our best to get it as soon as possible.
