Google Assistant can now read out and reply to your WhatsApp messages

Now you can ask your Google Assistant to read out your texts from apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and Slack, a report by Android Police on Friday.

Previously, the Assistant could only read SMSs, but now you can give it permission to access third-party messaging apps too.

According to the publication, you simply have to ask Google to read your messages in order for Assistant to access your notifications, a pop up appears on screen as the message is read out.

Assistant will tell you which app the text is coming from, and who sent it to you. You can then, of course, reply directly by texting or speaking.

This comes in particularly handy when you’re driving, cooking or working on a particularly messy project (papier mache, maybe?)

Messages containing media such as photos or audio cannot be read out by Assistant.

Feature image: screenshot, Google