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Google Assistant might be exclusive to Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones for now, but it seems people have found a workaround to this. According to a post on popular forum XDADevelopers, tweaking the ‘build.prop’ with two lines on Android phones running Nougat 7.0 or higher is good enough to get the Google Assistant on your phone. It seems Nexus smartphones have no problem getting Assistant via this tweak, although other phones will probably require rooting, which isn’t always recommended as this makes the device vulnerable to security issues.
According to the blogpost, users need Android 7.0 or higher on the phone as well as the latest version of the Google app (should be version 6.5.35.21 or newer), along with ‘build.prop tweaks.’ XDA’s post says users need to just manually edit the code and add the following lines to their build.prop: “ro.product.model=Pixel XL ro.opa.eligible_device=true.” The code will have to be added to build.prop file, which you should find in the system folder and users will need an app to do this.
Must Read: Google Pixel, Pixel XL First Impressions: Google’s new smartphones are here
According to the post it should work with Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, 5, 4, and also with OnePlus One, Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus, Moto G series as well as YU Yureka Plus. Google Assistant for now only supports English and German. The post points out Nexus owners should not have any problems with their device, although other device owners might face some issues . People are also reporting all this tinkering is causing their camera app to crash.
Google Assistant will so far remain Pixel, Pixel XL exclusive although it could come to Android phones later on, but that has not been hinted or talked about by the search giant so far. The other way to download Google Assistant on your phone is to get Allo app, which has the Assistant in-built and get some conversation going with it.
Google Assistant is also a part of the Google Home Speaker. Google is looking to add third-party support to the Assistant as well in the future.
