Google Assistant just got smarter and easier to use thanks to new options.

This behind-the-scenes upgrade allows you to adjust how the Assistant interacts with the apps on your phone; Google promises that the Assistant will get smarter by learning from your usage patterns, but a more direct benefit is that you control which apps you let it access and which it does not.

The new "Your Apps" menu is located at the bottom of the main settings menu (but was not visible on Google Pixel 4a 5G devices at the time of this writing). This sub-menu has two options for all apps, which are enabled by default. At the bottom, there is also a link to create custom voice shortcuts for apps, a feature introduced in late 2020.

The first is "Let Assistant learn from this app." This is described as providing a "more personalized experience" by letting the assistant learn from your app usage. The benefits of this feature are not specified, though.

The second is "let the assistant choose this app." This means that the Assistant will communicate your order to the relevant app without you having to specify the app. This is a feature that you may have already seen if you are a regular Google Assistant user, but you can now turn it off. This is useful if you have multiple apps with similar functions, such as a browser or a photo app, and you want Google Assistant to have access to only one of them.

Compare this to Google Assistant's main competitors. Apple's Siri already offers the option to toggle "Learn (insert app name here)" within the "Siri and Search" menu in the "Settings" app. There is no ability to enable/disable which apps are chosen for a particular task, other than to select the default in a particular case. So while Google Assistant is catching up to Siri, it is ahead of it in terms of depth of customization.

Google I/O 2021 will take place next week, starting May 18, and will likely bring some Google Assistant news. The star of the show, however, will be Android 12, which will introduce new features such as native one-hand mode, new gestures, and improved notifications.

Hopefully, we will also get some news on the Google Pixel 5a. It is believed to borrow a lot from the Pixel 4a 5G, and while it is a good phone, it is not one we would like to see released unchanged again in 2021.