Google Assistant could launch on the iPhone tomorrow

Google’s digital assistant may be about to move in on Siri’s turf. According to Bloomberg, a Google Assistant app is ready to launch on iOS and will likely be made available this week during Google’s I/O developer conference. Android Police also said the app should be available soon, but only in the US.

The Google Assistant launched last year on Google’s Pixel smartphone and began expanding to phones running Android Marshmallow and Nougat back in March. The Assistant is pretty much just Google’s riff on Siri: it answers questions, sends messages, and can handle basic actions on the phone.

Bringing the Assistant to iOS certainly can’t hurt, given how many Google services already populate the average iPhone in the US. But it’s hard to see Google really giving Siri much competition. Unlike Siri, which can be launched from any screen with a long press of the Home button, the Google Assistant app will have to be opened up in order to be accessed. That’ll make it a far less useful digital helper.

Apparently, this may be the start of a bigger expansion of the Assistant. Bloomberg also says it’s going to end up built into GE appliances, like washers and ovens, too.