Google has updated Google Assistant with a new feature, called Your News Update, which allows the AI to pull up a personalised playlist of audio news stories for you. Here's everything you need to know, including how it works.

What is Your News Update?

In 2016, Google first launch News on Google Assistant, complete with news briefings from top publishers. In 2018, it expanded this functionality with the ability to receive spoken responses to news queries on your Google Home. Now, with Your News Update, Google said it's worked with collaborations with publishers from around the globe over nearly two years to help re-imagine "the future of audio news".

Google said it wanted to help digital audio move forward, by not only focusing on audio news, but by analysing audio files so it can better understand text articles, how news stories evolve, how topics link together, and what might be most relevant to its users. The result of all that is Your News Update, which Google said is a new "smarter way to listen to the news hosted by the Google Assistant".

How does Your News Update work?

After enabling the feature in your Google Assistant news settings, you can simply ask Google Assistant to play the news on any Assistant-enabled phone or smart speaker. At the point, Your News Update should kick in and begin delivering a mix of audio news stories based on your "interests, location, user history, and preferences, as well as the top news stories out there".

So, if you're a Miami Hurricanes fan who follows tech news and lives in Upstate New York, for example, you might hear a story about the latest Apple event announcement, an analysis of last Saturday's game at Hard Rock, and an update on your congressperson's remarks during the Trump impeachment hearings, in addition to other news headlines that are trending and worth your attention.

How to turn on Your News Update

You can find Your News Update in Assistant settings: Under the You tab, navigate to News and switch your News playlist format.

How to invoke Your News Update

Simply say, “Hey Google, play me the news” or add news to one of your Assistant Routines (which you can learn more about from here).

Which publishers are involved?

You'll hear audio stories from the following partners:

Hey Google play the news How Google Assistants Your News Update feature works image 2
Google

Who can try Your News Update?

Your News Update is now available in English in the US. It will expand internationally next year, according to Google.