Google is making Assistant less dependent on "OK Google" keyphrases

Google's so-called “Quick Phrases” or “Salsas” were discovered in a recent Google Assistant build after an APK teardown by 9to5Google. And by the looks of it, Google isn't removing the need for the “OK Google” keyphrase entirely. Instead, the company seemingly wants Quick Phrases/Salsas to act as an additional layer that users can decide to utilize or ignore.

Quick Phrases are limited to certain tasks or categories of tasks, and for the most part, they're linked with setting up timers, managing smart devices around the home, controlling music playback, and so on.  Furthermore, the system also seems capable of letting users create their own Quick Phrases/Salsas, so it might leave a lot of room for customization.

When using Quick Phrases, the Assistant should be capable of differentiating between voices to avoid accidental summons, and presumably, Quick Phrases will be handled entirely by on-device machine learning hardware for improved privacy and security.

Will Google Assistant Quick Phrases come to the Galaxy Watch 4 series?

The APK teardown doesn't outright specify which Google devices will have access to Assistant Quick Phrases, and it's worth reminding that not every feature discovered in an APK teardown is guaranteed to become a real service or product.

Now, Samsung customers might be wondering if Quick Phrases feature will become available for the Google Assistant on the Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatch series given that it runs Wear OS. We're wondering the same. However, judging by what the APK teardown had revealed, Quick Phrases could be planned as an exclusive feature for select Google smartphones and smart speakers/displays. Wearable devices don't seem to have been mentioned, and since the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic run Wear OS, only time will tell if they'll make the list.