Google today announced plans to bring its "Duplex" feature that's designed to book restaurant reservations for you through actual voice calls to iOS devices.

Google says that the feature is available on all Pixel phones in 43 U.S. states and that it will be coming to "more Android and iOS devices" over the course of the next few weeks.


Unveiled at the 2018 Google I/O developer conference, Google Duplex lets Google Assistant make calls to businesses to schedule appointments and make restaurant reservations. It was demoed on stage with Google Assistant making a phone call to a real salon and using a natural-sounding conversation to book an appointment.

Following the demo, there were questions about the ethics of having a machine phone a real person, but in response, Google said that Google Assistant will identify itself and will allow restaurants to opt out of being recorded.

Placing a restaurant reservation this way involves telling Google Assistant where you want to go, what time, and with how many people. Google Assistant then calls the restaurant, and once a reservation is made successfully, you're notified via email and calendar invite.

Tag: Google

Top Rated Comments

rictus007 Avatar
79 months ago
Can’t wait to tell google what I like to eat, where and with whom
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gplusplus Avatar
79 months ago
I want Duplex/Google Assistant for its call screening features. The robo-spam and scam calls are outrageously out of hand and Apple has done nothing to make it better. Even RoboKiller, the top rated service for dealing with spam/scam calls, doesn’t cut it on iOS.

If they can bring this feature to iOS, I would be a very happy camper. But if Google continues to make strides in their digital assistant technology, while Apple is still stale, then I may finally switch back to Google’s ecosystem.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Intellectua1 Avatar
79 months ago
Can’t wait to tell google what I like to eat, where and with whom
It's cool, I'm sure by nights end you will have told Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JaySoul Avatar
79 months ago
Can't wait for Duplex to come to the UK.

Of course, here it will be called 'Maisonette'.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleMad98004 Avatar
79 months ago
There’s no point to it.

It just means you don’t need a person answering the phone at the restaurant.
That's my thought. The end goal is Google software at the restaurant level (or any business) that will auto book for people who prefer the phone. This will replace all sorts of admin jobs.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gplusplus Avatar
79 months ago
Its going to be very interesting to see if Google is able to turn the assistant role inside out on the iPhone. Google Assistant is now able to be invoked using Siri Shortcuts and now this feature. People may start ignoring Apple's own offerings if they don't start matching features.
People may want to, but Apple maintains control. The iPhone has been out for almost 12 years now, yet they still won’t even let you change your default web browser. If Apple won’t let you change a default web browser, I doubt they’d let you change your default digital assistant. They will find a way to “break” the functionality, as they do with pretty much everything else.

Look at the graphics API fiasco. Apple could have supported Vulkan, an open standard graphics API created by Khronos Group, which Apple themselves was a member of. But no, they not only deprecated OpenGL support at 4.1 (very outdated), but they intentionally omitted Vulkan support and now force developers to use Metal 2, which is 100% proprietary. They don’t care about consumers or developers; they just want control.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...