Google Plans To Unveil Voice Controlled App Function At I/O Called 'Voice Access'

Google I/O is fast approaching and we already know of a couple of things ready and waiting to take place at the conference, including some exciting new wearables from the ATAP division that will “blow our socks off” and the announcement of Android M, which is to be Google’s next version of the mobile operating system following up Lollipop. Just a few years back, Google announced the arrival of Google Now for Android at I/O 2012, which for the most part is at the core of some of the voice activated capabilities on Android devices currently when in pairing with Search.

This year it appears Google is looking to take using our voices much further and introduce a new feature called Voice Access, which will essentially allow users to control the apps installed on their devices with merely their voice. This sort of feature won’t be baked into everything and be ready to work of course, developers will have to take the Voice Access API and work into their applications for it to function. Nevertheless, those who do choose to include it in either existing or upcoming apps once its available will be making things a whole lot easier on users. Think about being able to open Play Music, Spotify, Pandora or any other streaming music service just by speaking to your smartphone or tablet, then being able to complete tasks like skipping tracks forward or backward, pausing and playing songs, or searching for new playlists or stations just by using your voice alone. It’s an idea that really opens up the ease of use and the convenience of the Android operating system, and streaming music was just one example.

While having a new voice input for accessing and controlling the Android interface seems like a wildly great idea, before anyone gets their hopes up there is no way of knowing if this is a feature which Google will roll out to current versions of Android, meaning it could be specific to the upcoming Android M. All that’s known at this point is that Google will be talking about it during its own specialized session and teaching developers how to integrate it while helping them to provide the “optimal experience” for users within their apps.