It seems that this year we will see a new Google Android TV device, codenamed Sabrina, at the Made by Google event — or somewhere there-abouts (it is 2020 and the entire year has been flipped upside down several times). Along with the new device it seems that Google will be beefing up the Google Assistant for their Android TV service.
9to5Google have torn apart the latest Google Search app for Android TV and found strings that Voice Match is on the way. The latest update rolled out over the weekend and with a fairly significant jump in version numbers from 3.14.2 to 4.2.0 there seems to be significant changes.
Within the APK file they showed that Google is working on improving the Google Assistant and Google Home integrations for Android TV. At the moment there is no voice match on Android TV and with Android TV Assistant just uses the Google account of whoever is logged in to the TV.
The latest Google Search update includes the following strings suggesting the new changes:
<string name=”voice_match_setup_screen_title”>Activate Voice Match on this TV</string>
<string name=”voice_match_setup_screen_description_1″>”Your Assistant can already recognize you by your voice, and tell you apart from others.
Voice Match allows your Assistant to identify you and tell you apart from others. The Assistant takes clips of your voice to form a unique voice model, which is only stored on your device(s). Your voice model may be sent temporarily to Google to better identify your voice.
If you decide later that Voice Match isn’t for you, simply remove it from Assistant Settings. To view or delete the audio clips you record during Voice Match setup, go to activity.google.com.”</string>
<com.google.android.apps.wearables.maestro.companion.ui.settings.widget.ExtraLinkSwitchPreference android: persistent=”false” android:title=”@string/title_baby_cry_switch_pref” android:key=”@string/key_baby_cry_switch_pref” /><com.google.android.apps.wearables.maestro.companion.ui.settings.widget.ExtraLinkSwitchPreference android: persistent=”false” android:title=”@string/title_dog_bark_switch_pref” android:key=”@string/key_dog_bark_switch_pref” />
<com.google.android.apps.wearables.maestro.companion.ui.settings.widget.ExtraLinkSwitchPreference android: persistent=”false” android:title=”@string/title_smoke_alarm_switch_pref” android:key=”@string/key_smoke_alarm_switch_pref” />
</PreferenceCategory>
These changes, when they arrive, will help someone to log into their own Netflix account, their own Stadia (should it ever arrive here) or YouTube and so on.
It is unclear when this is going to arrive on Android TV but we suspect it will arrive with the new device, Sabrina, as Google likes to show off new features on their new hardware and then roll them out to older hardware not long after. Sabrina will most likely release at a Made by Google event but with the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 launches delayed who knows when that will occur.
