Actions on Google - How to access - actions-on-google

First time here (please be gentle). I've built and had an action approved. For the life of me, I cannot work out how to run it.
Published
In simulation mode I got a test run to work on my google home. However, my invocation doesn't run it, and I can't seem to find a portal to download it or similar.
invocation
How do you people use it now that it has been approved? I've checked my directory but there is no data.
directory

You will be able to use the same invocation phrases that you used for testing in the simulator.
Although it is "published", it does take time to be distributed to all of Google's servers and for it to be available on everyone's Assistant. There isn't any way you can rush this process - it usually takes a couple of days.
You can look at your Action Console, click on "Analytics" on the left, and then the "Directory" tab on top to see how it appears in the directory.
If you view the directory URL from a mobile device, you can also invoke the Action from the directory entry itself once it is available.
You will never "download" or "install" it on a Google Home. Think of it as a website and your Google Home as a browser.

Related

Google assistant taking over my app's conversation on certain commands

My app has certain commands that seem to conflict with the Google Assistant's built in behavior. Even though I'm in a conversation with my app and have explicitly asked for a response, the Google Assistant takes over when the user says "Read the note" or "play the tape". In the first case it pops into reading my keep notes. In the second it launches YT music and plays something. I want those commands to be fulfilled by my app!
I've tried training on those specific phrases through the dialogflow console but it didn't seem to help. Is there any way to ensure my app processes all commands while it's in a conversation? Or at least a few specific ones?
I should note, otherwise, commands work perfectly. Even similar ones like "look at the note" work. It's those specific commands causing issues. "Play ____" seems to always launch YT Music though. Commands like "look at the note" go through my TEXT intent and not a fallback intent.

Google Assistant Hello World Draft Project not updating

Very new to Google Actions. Testing out tutorial stuff.
I have tried this in a couple of test projects just to double check. After initial run of any project I do not get any updates on draft projects. No changes show up in draft projects for me for both simulator and real device.
Started new project
Even blank project has basic conversation telling you where to add things next.
Change text.
Notice prompt does not change in testing environment.
In below pictures I have changed the words "hello world" with "Hey Dude" for both fulfillment and console output. I would expect Testing Prompt to respond with "Hey Dude from fulfillment and Hey Dude from the console!" But it does not. Instead it does not reflect any recent changes.
I think there may be two slightly different (but sometimes related) issues going on here.
The first is that there are known problems with the simulator being slow to pick up on updates, or them not seeming to show up. The second has to do with making sure you're deploying changes from the build-in code editor.
I don't have a clear answer to the first problem, although I know they're looking into it. I find that I can make some changes and they may not be noticed, but I know they have been picked up if I see the "Your preview is being updated..." spinner appear. There are other spinners that sometimes appear, but unless it explicitly says that it is being updated - the updates aren't always picked up. (Sometimes they are, however.)
Usually, if I don't see this, I'll go back and force an apparent change (delete a character from a webhook handler name, then add it back) and go back to the simulator. In general, this time it will say it is updating.
If you're using the Cloud Functions editor, you need to do three things:
Save the changes. You'll do this by clicking the "Save Fulfillment" button, but this only saves it so you can leave the editor. It doesn't mean that the simulator has access to it yet.
Deploy the changes. This deploys your code to Cloud Functions so they can be run. Note in the illustration that it says the code is saved, but not yet deployed.
Wait till the changes are fully deployed. Deploying takes time, and until it is completed, it won't be available in the simulator. While deploying, it lets you know.
Once it has deployed, however, the message changes, and you the impacts should be available through the simulator (although you may still need to see the "being updated" message to be sure).
Remember, however, that you don't need to use the "Cloud Functions editor" in order to deploy a webhook. You can deploy a webhook on any web server where
The host is public (so has a public IP address that Google can reach)
It can handle HTTPS with a non-self-signed certificate
You can even deploy yourself to Cloud Functions for Firebase, which is the same service that the Actions Builder uses. This way you have the URL set once in the Actions Builder and, once it is set, you won't need to change it.
But you'll still be able to change your code by managing your own deployment separate from Actions Builder.

Branch link opens Ionic 3 app, which immediately closes before loading

I'm configuring Branch and seeing what I think is unexpected behavior upon trying to test my setup. I have an Ionic 3.7 app and am new to Ionic/iOS/Android development- so I've been following the Branch docs to try and get this configured (just for iOS right now).
What I've done so far:
I started with this guide: https://dev.branch.io/getting-started/sdk-integration-guide/guide/cordova/
The pre-requisite is that Universal Links are setup, which makes sense. In order to get that working, I clicking the link in the guide above, which took me to this guide: https://dev.branch.io/getting-started/universal-app-links/guide/cordova/
The Universal Link steps have gone fine until #3, where I'm trying to verify that my setup is correct. I created a Quick Link and texted it to my phone (which had a build of my app that I ran after adding the config in step 2).
Clicking the link starts to open the app (I see the splash screen), but it closes before loading is complete (I see a black screen momentarily). When I open this build of the app normally, it loads and runs normally
As I mentioned, I'm new to this- do I need to follow the Apple Universal Link setup (from here) with the apple-app-site-association file before starting the Branch config? I didn't see any mention of that in the guides I followed- however, it may be something so basic that it's assumed the user has done it already.
Regardless, I did configure that file and make it available as the Apple guide says. I'm still seeing the same behavior when I click my Branch link.
The 2nd Branch guide I posted only mentions that the app opens immediately without routing through Safari as a result of the test- is what I'm seeing actually correct? I don't have the SDK installed to handle the links, so I could see that being the case too.
UPDATE
I went ahead and installed the SDK, following the instructions here. It was somewhat confusing, as I wasn't sure if I should be supplementing the additions to config.xml from my step 1) above, or if my branch-config section should only have the keys from the SDK installation example.
I ended up commenting out the changes to config.xml from step 1) and it looks like it worked, as I now see the deeplink data when opening the app via the Quick Link I created before. I had previously added the domains to my entitlements file directly in Xcode before, though, so I'm now wondering if I need those extra config keys in order to persist the entitlements changes should I need to remove/readd the iOS platform.
Amruta from Branch.io here:
You can follow the iconic integration guide available on Github here.You need to update your config.xml with the Branch key assigned to your App, which can be found on the Account Settings page of the Branch dashboard. The URI scheme is the one you have defined in the Link Settings page of the Branch dashboard and the link domain for your Branch links is also defined on the Link Settings Page.
If you still have issues, I would recommend writing to integrations#branch.io.

Visual studio online source control breaks debugging

I'm completely new to source/version control and I recently decided to try out the Visual Studio online service (the renamed TFS online service). I ran into a problem and now I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or is the VSOnline service faulty.
Problem is as follows:
Completely working Windows phone 8 project. Compiler and debugger working as expected in VS13 ultimate (also in VS12 pro).
However, when I add the project to source control and check it in. Then check it back out it breaks.
Symptoms:
1) XAML markup not recognized. IntelliSense reports error for every single XAML tag, even fundamental tags like Phone:PhoneApplicationPage. These errors can be cleared if I change from debug to release mode, but they re-appear when I launch project next time.
2) Debug target not changeable. In the dialog where you can typically choose between device and different emulator modes there is only one option "start". Impossible to deploy app on actual device. "Start" always launches default emulator (which works fine, no bugs there), but you can't choose which emulator.
3) VS13 crashes when I try to open debug tab in project properties/settings.
4) Attempt to build the solution in VSonline fails.
I realize there is a possibility I'm doing something wrong. Never used source control before, but in my understanding I still should be able to handle the project completely normal after check-out. Restrictions to debugging or deploying to device would seem counter-productive to me.
And also the false errors and VS13 crashing in settings implies there is something broken.
Any opinion, advice or help will be hugely appreciated.
After few days of relentless effort I was able to solve the problem.
As I work from home and my own computer, I'm always logged in with my personal account.
And I was logged in visual studio with my work account which has the MSDN subscription.
This caused account clash and all the odd behavior. Logging out from all browser didn't help, it mysteriously kept my personal account always logged in. And I believe this is caused by Skydrive.
So I set up new user account for my work id, log in using that and all started working perfectly.
Bottom line: If you wish to use visual studio online or log in in VS, make sure you are logged in with same account on the computer.

gmail script (stats report) deployment

I need to develop a simple gmail script that collects some stats. I've found an example, something like: go to GoogleDocs, create a new spreadsheet, go to Tools -> Script Editor, enter your script. That's fine and clear. But how to deploy it to my customers and how they can run it?
Is it possible to give them a link or a package from which they can simply install this script and a new button "Stats" will appear in their gmail account?
You can have only Contextual Gadgets or Sidebar gadgets in GMail app. You can't make a script or its result appear directly in GMail.
An apps script can be published to a gallery. See Sharing Your Scripts section. It'll have to wait for a Google review though. I tried submitting a script awhile back but it never got a confirmation that it was published at some point.
A couple of fast ways:
You send your customers the source code with instructions (e.g. "Go to Tools => Script Editor", "Paste my code", etc..)
Share the spreadsheet along with the script itself (you'll need to enabled script code sharing even if the spreadsheet is shared already) and tell them to make a copy, including the script.