You can now use Google Assistant to bug your housemates to do their chores

Imagine you’re going about your day when a notification pops up on your phone: “From [roommate’s name]: take out the trash.” No, it’s not a passive aggressive text, just a friendly “reminder.”

That’s the premise of “assignable reminders,” the latest Google Assistant feature, which lets you push specific tasks to the people you live with.  

It’s essentially an extension of Google’s existing reminders function, except you can dole them out to anyone in your household, provided your Google accounts are linked via Google’s family sharing settings or through a shared Google Home speaker. Once you’ve assigned a reminder, the person will get a notification on their impending task. 

Reminders can be tied to a specific time or location. So, show up at the grocery store, and boom: “reminder: buy eggs.” Walk in your door and receive “reminder: it’s your turn to unload the dishwasher.” 

Whether or not you find that prospect appealing likely depends on your relationship with your housemates and your view of Google’s seemingly all-knowing assistant. (Though if you’re already using Google Assistant for reminders or sharing a device, you’re probably not too worried about these things.) 

For Google, though, the new feature is just the latest way the company is looking to give its assistant the ability to handle more complicated tasks, or what Google product manager Glenn Wilson calls “longer user journeys.”

“People are tending to get more devices. These situations mean we can support longer user journeys, not just the one-off set a timer or alarm,” Wilson says. “We’re definitely focused on how can we help those complicated journeys better because the simple journeys are kind of solved.” 

It’s also the latest way Google has found to ensure that its assistant embeds itself even deeper into our lives. But hey, at least you never have to worry about coming home with the wrong groceries.