Google Assistant Code Suggests Payment Service Is Coming

Google Assistant may soon allow users to make payments through the application.

Hidden in the string of code in the latest beta version of the Google app is a phrase that shows the ability to make payments, according to an APK teardown on XDA posted by Mishaal Rahman, a self-proclaimed long-time Android enthusiast and master of everything Tasker.

The phrase -- "you’ll soon be able to pay for things" -- that is written in the code suggests Google is preparing to begin teasing users.

The code shows that users will have an option to "specify which Assistant-connected devices will be able to participate in making payments."

XDA, a mobile software development community, also found evidence that this functionality is partially implemented in the APK file, as the company found numerous references to layout files that set up a payment interface through Google Assistant. 

XDA also warns that although a teardown can provide valuable information about upcoming features, by no means does it mean these features will make their way into the product.

"Do not take these teardowns as proof that a feature will be added, but rather as a hint of what could be coming," according to XDA.

Some comments on the XDA Web site in reference to the teardown suggest that Google needs to put safeguards in place to secure transactions and prevent unwanted transactions. "Amazing how easily people will give their privacy away," Latheryin, a member of the XDA Web community, wrote in the comment section of the post.

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