Today, we’ve got a few cool tricks you can perform with
Google Assistant.
As you doubtless already know, Google Assistant is the voice assistant that comes baked into smartphones (Android or Google Pixel) and also in smart speakers.
Whether you use your AI-fueled buddy on a Google Home speaker or your phone, you’ll enjoy the same hands-free convenience. You’ll also benefit from Google’s robust search powers, which outflank Alexa’s skills in that area.
So, without further ado, we’ll look at 10 actionable ways to
get the most out of Google Assistant across a variety of devices.
10 Cool Things Google Assistant Can Do
- Find Your Phone
- Open Apps With Voice Commands
- Get Your Day Started The Right Way
- Control All Aspects of Your Smart Home
- Have Google Assistant Read You The News
- Send Voice Messages When You’re On The Go
- Your Virtual Butler As Translator
- Get Ready For Netflix and Chill Hands-Free
- Never Forget An Appointment Again
- Identify Your Surroundings With Your Camera
1) Find Your Phone
Few things are more frustrating than searching for your
phone just as you’re about to head out.
Google Assistant can help you find it as long as you’ve got a Google Home smart speaker hooked up. Just ask Google where your phone is, and your virtual butler will call it up.
This trick still works even if your phone is on Do Not
Disturb or Silent mode.
2) Open Apps With Voice Commands
Have you got a hectic lifestyle and a busy digital presence?
If you want to open apps like Gmail, you’ll be able to do
this by asking Google Assistant to do the honors.
If you like the idea of monitoring your email for a critical
incoming message while you’re busy in the kitchen with dirty hands, this is a
welcome touch. It also comes in handy if you’re on the go and trying to do
several things at once.
While these first pair of tips might be basic, they’re also
very practical, so make sure you add them to your arsenal.
What else?
3) Get Your Day Started The Right Way
Use Google Assistant to help you ease into your days without
grasping for an alarm clock.
On a basic level, your digital assistant can wake you as
directed. If you dislike regular alarm tones, Google Assistant can serve up
songs from your music services or play from specific playlists. Wake up to
something soothing for the first few minutes. Next, get your smart speaker to
pump up the energy levels to fire you up for the day.
With Google Routines, you’ll be able to have your alarm trigger other actions. Your Google Routine might take the form of your virtual digital helper, reading you the news or perhaps turning on the lights once the alarm has is deactivated.
From here, you can benefit from Google Assistant throughout
the house…
4) Control All Aspects of Your Smart Home
With a Google Home device, a central hub, and a handful of smart devices, you’ve got the basis of an expandable ecosystem with hands-free control streamlining operation wonderfully.
Here, you’re limited only by the extent of your ambition and
the number of devices you have.
Smart home control is probably the primary use case for most smart speaker customers. Is this how you like to put Google Assistant to work?
5) Have Google Assistant Read You The News
Are you a slow starter in the mornings?
If so, how would you like your digital butler to read you
the news and weather so you can ease into your day?
Just hit the Home button then, when the pop-up prompt
appears simply respond, “Good morning.” Google Assistant will greet you by name
then break down the weather conditions so you can plan your day. Your virtual
helper will then read you the news from your curated sources.
This can be tweaked for “Good afternoon” or “Good evening”
with your AI butler behaving accordingly for the time of day.
6) Send Voice Messages When You’re On The Go
Do you always seem to be dashing around with your hands full? Are you always struggling for time?
If so, you can wing off voice messages on the hoof, and your family at home can hear them issuing from your Google Home speakers.
When you prefer that a member of your family reads the message rather than listens to it, your digital assistant can transcribe it. You continue operating hands-free while you get the message sent in a hurry, whichever way you want it.
7) Your Virtual Butler As Translator
Google Assistant, harnessing the smarts of Google Translate,
can function as a real-time translator.
Simply ask, “How do I say please in Spanish” or “How do I say why in French and your trusty assistant serves up translated words
and sentences on-screen for you.
You’ll have access to a staggering 188 languages, so you’ll never again be stumped on holiday wandering around a Japanese store with no idea what you’re looking at.
By commanding, “Hey Google, be my German interpreter,” you
can have Assistant translate your English into German, and then, as your friend
speaks, you’ll receive a spoken translation.
8) Get Ready For Netflix and Chill Hands-Free
Have you got a smart TV with Google Assistant baked in? If
so, you’ll be able to fire up Netflix hands-free. For us, this is one of the
simple but highly beneficial elements of smartening up your home entertainment.
No more bowls stuffed with remotes, no more fumbling for that controller.
This trick also works if you have Netflix installed on any Android device, and you’re signed in and hooked up. Issue the same command and wait for the next Godfather of Harlem episode to kick in.
9) Never Forget An Appointment Again
One of the key attractors to Google Assistant is the way you
can draw from the impressive breadth of Google’s services and apps from
Calendar and Keep to the omnipresent Gmail.
If you’re walking along and need to check an email quickly, just ask Google Assistant, “Did I miss any emails from yesterday.” This hands-free convenience across the board is the very essence of Assistant.
You’ll also be able to set ongoing reminders in the run-up
to a wedding anniversary or birthday. Never forget and end up in the dog house
again!
10) Identify Your Surroundings With Your Camera
Another excellent use case of Google Assistant when you’re
out and about is the ability to identify your surroundings with your phone’s
camera.
As well as determining what the building is, Assistant will
also fire up contextual information to complement the ID. If it’s a concert
venue, for example, you might be served up with the name of the bands playing
and a link to play music or even buy tickets to the show.
Final Word
We tried to include a bunch of tips today that are genuinely useful. After all, it’s pointless hunting out complex functions and tricks that you’ll never meaningfully press into action.
For more handy guidance along with the latest smart home news, just bookmark our blog
and come back regularly. We update our content daily throughout the week.
See you soon!
The post 10 Cool Things About Google Assistant appeared first on Smarthome Blog.
Source: All Things Home Automation