It was over a year ago that we heard that Google Assistant and Alexa may come to the Xbox platform. It has been some time in the making but has finally appeared, but with the caveat that it’s public beta — so not quite ready for mainstream use.
The announcement came from Harrison Hoffman in his role as Senior Program Manager at Xbox and delivered on Reddit: Xbox Insiders with instructions how to get Assistant going.
Here’s how to get started with the beta:
- Join our Google Group with the Google Account you intend to use
- Sign into your Xbox
- In the Google Home app for iOS or Android:
- Tap “+ Add”
- Tap “Set up device”
- Tap “Have something already set up?”
Search for and select “[beta] Xbox”
- Sign in with the Microsoft account you use on Xbox
- Follow the instructions to link your Xbox and give it a device name**If no devices are found, try enabling the Digital Assistants setting on your console (Settings > Devices & Streaming > Digital Assistants)*
**If you’re having trouble launching games and apps, try restarting your console.
Once you’re all set up, here are a few actions you can try to get you started with controlling your Xbox One with Google Assistant:
- “Hey Google, play Gears 5 on Xbox.”
- “Hey Google, turn on Xbox.”
- “Hey Google, turn off Xbox.”
- “Hey Google, launch YouTube on Xbox.”
- “Hey Google, pause on Xbox.”
- “Hey Google, resume on Xbox.”
- “Hey Google, volume up on Xbox.”
- “Hey Google, take a screenshot on Xbox.”
At the moment the trial is limited to English speaking customers, but work is continuing to expand it to further languages and regions before the Fall in the USA.
If you’re an Xbox One user, let us know how well the Assistant integration works for you.
Have had this running for over a month now. It works well. You can also change channels with commands like “watch channel seven on the Xbox”.