Define app name for Google Assistant actions

Question

My full app name is pretty long, 3 words. For "Hey Google" assistant I defined some app features, and they work fine in my testing, when I invoke them with a phrase like:

open [feature] in [app full name]

I would like to define a shorter name, maybe just two words, for such invocations. Android Studio "App Actions" plugin has the "App name:" field, where I can type this shorter name and it works fine too. However, how can I define this shorter app name or app alias permanently, directly in the app?

Answer 1

Short answer, not possible without changing the official name of the app... I received the following answer from Actions on Google support:

We understand that you want to improve the discoverability of your app in Google Assistant. From the looks of it, you want the query “open list in [The Long Name]” to also work for your “[Short Name]” app. Kindly note that you can only open your app and use App Actions using your app's playstore and launcher name. In your case, both your playstore and launcher name is “[The Long Name]”.

What you can do is update your app's launcher name to “[Short Name]” and submit it for review in Google Play Console(If needed). Once approved, please let us know and provide the following details so we report this to our engineers:

• Latest version of the app that has launcher name as “[Short Name]”
• Play Store Link
• Track where the app is deployed

We hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other App Actions review related questions/concerns. Our team is best in handling such issues.