Use this nifty new Android feature to even work around a locked smartphone; get it this way

The new Android feature is called ‘Lock Screen’ and it is available in Google Assistant’s Popular Settings menu.

Google Assistant (AP)

We are always looking for new features to be rolled out for whatever gadget, apps or software we are using that allows us to to do certain things in an easier way, especially if it appears magical! Google, in the past couple of weeks, has rolled out a bunch of new features for Google Assistant. For instance, it rolled out a feature called Family Broadcast on Google Assistant's smartphone-based interface and renamed it ‘Communication'. It also rolled out a ‘Your Apps' option in the settings menu that lets users manage how Google Assistant works with installed apps. Now, the company has released another feature that allows use of Google Assistant even when a user's smartphone is locked - this sounds like magic, surely.

The new Android feature is called ‘Lock Screen' and it is available in Google Assistant's Popular Settings menu under Voice Match and Languages options, 9To5 Google reported. The new Lock Screen menu, as the name suggests, enables users to use ‘Google Assistant even when a user's smartphone screen is locked.'

On tapping on the new Lock Screen Menu for the first time, users are greeted with a splash screen that talks about the feature in length. “Get hands-free help from your Assistant when your phone is locked. You can always turn this off in your Assistant settings...For help with personal info, like calling and messaging your contacts, turn on Voice Match and say “Hey Google” so your Assistant can recognize your voice,” says the text in the splash screen.

At this point, users can either tap on ‘No, thanks' option to exit the setting or ‘Yes, I'm In' button to get to the settings. Tapping on the ‘Yes, I'm In' button takes users to the Lock Screen settings that has two toggle buttons. The first toggle button allows the Google Assistant to answer users' requests even when their phones are locked. All users need to do is say ‘Hey Google' followed by their request. The other toggle button enables Google Assistant to give users personalised requests even when they hadn't used the ‘Hey Google' hotword.

Google has started rolling out the feature to all the Google Assistant users across the globe. All you need to do is download version 12.24 of the Google app to be able to use this feature.