[UPDATED] Pixel Exclusive Google Assistant Has Been Ported Over To Nexus 6P

UPDATED 11 Oct 2016

Google announced the Pixel smartphones, "Phones by Google", in an event on October 4. Of the multiple features the Pixel devices boast of, the flagship feature certainly was the Google Assistant, which had initially made it's debut with Google's messaging app Allo.

It was just about time that the development community of XDA ported the flagship feature of the Pixel devices to be put to use across other devices as well. And, as it turns out this certainly has happened, that's why you are reading this post after all.

There are certain prerequisites which have to be met if you intend to use the Google Assistant. The first one is that you need be rooted, have an unlocked bootloader and you should be having the latest Google app (6.5.35.21 and newer would do). You can grab the APK file of the latest version of the Google app by clicking here.

All this has been done with the help of certain modifications to the build.prop file of the NBD90X stock firmware of the Nexus 6P. XDA member brianla has created a simple mod, which can you can flash in a custom recovery such as TWRP, CWM & Philz, which will replace the original build.prop file. NBD90X was the build number of the factory image of the Nexus 6P with the October security patch.

If you don't want to flash the patch and want to replace the build.prop file manually, then you can download the modified build.prop file by clicking here.

The build.prop modifications will modify your device's name to Pixel XL and the build number will be changed to NDE63H, the build number which the Pixel devices come with. Thus what this mod will do is, it will reflect your device as one of the Pixel devices which will allow the Google app to give you the consent to use the Google Assistant.

Since this patch works with the stock ROM, it should also work with AOSP based ROMs as well. Even though we may not have that many AOSP based Nougat ROMs at the moment, there do exist some and this patch should work with these ROMs as well, but do remember that the ROM you are using should have the build number NBD90X, or the October security patch.

Ported features do come at the cost of certain bugs as well sometimes. But don't worry, as these bugs are not major in any way. Here is a list of bugs (all the bugs mentioned below can be fixed if the build.prop file dated 11/10/2016 is used):

- "There's an internal problem with your device" dialog on boot.

- Stock camera app stops working. Use another camera app as a workaround.

Do remember that this mod won't exist forever. 

As soon as Google gets a note of this, they will definitely make certain changes to the Google application which might render this mod incompatible. However, if this mod is continuously updated, things might be different.

Download Links

As we told you above, you have two ways to go about things here. Either you can flash the ZIP files linked below, or you can manually replace the build.prop file in the root of your system manually. We have described both the methods below.

Flashable ZIPs

GoogleAssistantVelvet.zip

GoogleAssistantBuildProp.zip (11/10/2016)

tweak.prop

1) Download the three files linked above.

2) Copy all 3 Files to your device

3) First flash GoogleAssistantVelvet.zip 

4) Then flash GoogleAssistantBuildProp.zip (this will install the "tweak.prop" into your build.prop)

After replacing the build.prop or after flashing the ZIP file, wipe your data in recovery to get Google Assistant working by long pressing the home navigation button. Wiping the data will remove all your existing apps and accounts if you have any. Make sure to have backup your existing apps and data using Titanium Backup. A nandroid backup is also recommended.

If Google Assistant is not showing up you can try wiping the Google app data from the settings menu.

Manual Method

modified build.prop (11/10/2016)

Steps:

1) Download the file linked above to your device.

2) Using any file manager which has the ability to access files at the root of system, go to the folder named "system".

3) Delete the build.prop file which is present there.

4) Now, copy the build.prop file you have downloaded from the above link to the "system" folder.

After replacing the build.prop or after flashing the ZIP file, wipe your data in recovery to get Google Assistant working by long pressing the home navigation button. Wiping the data will remove all your existing apps and accounts if you have any. Make sure to have backup your existing apps and data using Titanium Backup. A nandroid backup is also recommended.

If Google Assistant is not showing up you can try wiping the Google app data from the settings menu.

UPDATE 11 Oct 2016: If you use the new build.prop file (dated 11/10/2016), you won't face any bugs which have been mentioned above. 

Archives

This section will list the download links of the old build.prop files and flashable ZIPs. If you have downloaded the files from the links above, you don't need to worry about downloading any files from this section. We will update this section and the post as soon as the mod is updated.

GoogleAssistantBuildProp.zip (10/10/2016)

modified build.prop (10/10/2016)

Krittin Kalra

Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.