Google Assistant finally lets you book Uber, Lyft rides
It's taken a few years, but the Google Assistant is catching up to other digital assistants to get you a ride.
Instead of asking Alexa or Siri, you can now say, "Hey Google, book me an Uber." Or a Lyft, Ola, Grab, or your other favorite ride services.
The voice assistant starting Thursday will book you a ride through the Google Assistant app on your phone or smart speaker or on any Google Home speakers.
Once you ask for a ride with your preferred ride provider you can confirm the booking on your phone. Or you can just say you want a ride to a certain restaurant or location and a list of different services with pricing and wait times will come up. Then it's up to you to choose which car service you want.
Amazon's Alexa has been able to order Lyft and Uber rides since 2016. Siri can hail you an Uber on your iPhone (but no Lyft yet).
The Google Assistant ride feature is first coming out in English, but will expand to more languages in the next few months.
Topics Google Assistant Uber lyft
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
