10 Things You Didn’t Know Google Assistant Could Do

Google Assistant is an intelligent helper that’s available on pretty much every Android device. And while you can use it for basic tasks like setting an alarm or sending a text, there’s so much more hiding under the surface.

If you’re not familiar yet, check out our intro guide to Google Assistant first. Then dive into the below commands to learn advanced functionality.

1. Have Google Assistant Read the News to You

Did you know that Google Assistant can read news out loud? You can select topics of your liking from the sources you prefer. Plus, instead of bland text-to-speech conversion, you’ll hear actual people reading the stories.

To enable this, first open Settings > Google on your phone. Choose Account services, followed by Search, Assistant & Voice. Tap Google Assistant, then scroll down on the You tab. (Remember this page, as you’ll use it later for other settings). Select News to see the relevant options.

Here, you can see any news sources you’ve followed in the past and add new ones. These appear in several categories like US, World, and Business. Sources include CNN, ABC, Bloomberg, Billboard, and many more. Tap the star icon next to the ones you’re interested in, then hit Done when you’re satisfied.

Once you’ve set this up, just say “Play the news” to Google Assistant. Now, all those sources you chose will start playing one by one. You can also control playback by saying “Next” to jump to the next publication, or “Pause” or “Stop” to perform those actions.

You can also play news from a single source by saying the name of it directly. For instance, try saying “Play news from ABC News” to Google Assistant to hear what’s new.

2. Manage Reminders and a Shopping List

You probably know that you can ask digital assistants to remind you of something at a particular time. But did you know that you can use location reminders see reminders when you arrive at a particular place?

Try saying a command like “Remind me to call John when I get home” to Google Assistant. As long as you’ve set your home location, it will send the reminder whenever you get there. Check this by visiting the same Settings page as above, but instead of tapping News, choose Your places. Here you can set your Home and Work locations.

Going further, you can also make Google Assistant remember items that have no time or location triggers. For example, try “Remember that my house keys are in my shoe” or “Remember that the kitchen breaker is fourth from the top on the left side”.

Later, you can ask “What did I say about the kitchen breaker?” or “Where are my keys?” and Assistant will show you the relevant answers.

Lastly, when you need to add something to your shopping list, just say “Add X to my shopping list”. You can ask Assistant to show your shopping list too.

3. Check Flight Schedules, Birthdays, and Other Information

On Google, you’ve almost certainly come across a Knowledge Graph at some point. These are little cards that contain answers to your search query, along with extra information.

For example, if you ask “When was Edward Norton born?” you’ll see a card with his birthday. Thanks to conversational support, you can then ask “What was his first movie?” and it will knows you’re talking about Norton.

Plus, Google Assistant reads these cards out to you for a hands-free experience. So you can ask about the status of a flight, such as “Where is UA 48 right now?” to know the flight status of that plane. Of course, you can also ask about anything you’d enter into Google and hear relevant information.

4. Perform All Kinds of Conversions

Don’t waste time with mental calculations; Assistant makes it easy to convert one unit to another. Ask something like “How many kilometers is 20 miles?” or “What is 10 US dollars in euros?” and you’ll hear the converted values said spoken aloud.

You can also convert times; try “What time will it be in Los Angeles if it’s noon in Tokyo?” and it will tell you.

5. Translate Sentences

With the help of Google Translate, Assistant can speak entire sentences after translating from one language to another. For example, try “How do I say thank you in German?” or “How do you say ‘I need help’ in Spanish?”. You’ll see the translated sentences appear on the screen, as well as hearing it through the speaker.

If you need to translate a lot at once, use Google Translate and check out our essential Google Translate tips.

6. Get Traffic Information

Google Assistant can literally get you out of a jam. Other than navigating to a destination by voice, you can also check traffic information from your location.

Ask “How’s traffic?” to see the general traffic congestion in your area. Or try “How long will it take to get to Chicago?” before starting a drive to somewhere else.

7. Play Music and Video

You can play music via streaming services like Spotify and YouTube Music by voice. Try saying “Play The Story So Far” to play music by a certain artist. You can also use “Play Grayscale on YouTube” to find videos for your music.

To set your default music service, go to Settings > Google > Account services > Search, Assistant & Voice > Google Assistant > Services > Music. There, you can pick which service you want to use for music commands. Add “on YouTube Music” or similar to the end of a command to play with a different service.

Assistant can also control music playback for you. Use commands like “Turn the volume up” or “Play the previous track.”

8. Toggle Android Settings

Apart from controlling music, there are other toggles that you can control by asking Assistant. Use “Turn the flashlight on” or “Turn Bluetooth off” for easy access without digging through a bunch of menus.

You can also ask about specific features of app, such as “Take a selfie”. Depending on your device, this may just open the camera. But on the Pixel 4, this launched the front-facing camera and counted down for a selfie.

9. Control Internet of Things Devices

Google Assistant works with all kinds of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. If you have Philips Hue bulbs, Nest thermostats, Belkin WeMo smart plugs, or other smart products, you can configure Google Assistant to work with them.

The exact commands here will depend on what devices you have, but general commands like “Turn off the den light” should work with nearly any compatible bulbs. To pair smart devices with Google Assistant, head back to the Google Assistant settings page mentioned earlier, switch to the Assistant tab,and choose Home control.

This works well for adding single devices, but we recommend using the Google Home app for more advanced smart homes. This makes it easier to add devices, plus you can access more options for your them.

For instance, you can organize devices into rooms, which makes it easy to toggle them all at once. Saying “Turn off all the lights in the bedroom” shuts them all off in one go instead of naming them individually.

10. Find Content in Apps

Finally, if you use other Google services like Google Photos, Assistant can help you find what you’re looking for. However, you sometimes have to word your query carefully.

For example, saying “Show me pictures of my dogs” will show pictures of dogs stored in your Google Photos. You can even fine-tune the query by saying “Show me pictures of my dogs from 2014.” Similarly, “Show me pictures of my cars” will put up your photos containing vehicles.

It’s important to use “Show me my pictures of…” or “Show me pictures of my…” because if you omit the word my, you might end up with Google Image search results instead of ones from your photo library.

You can use similar queries to open specific Settings pages and more. Additionally, you can search within your messages with phrases like “Show me emails from Sam” or “Do I have any unread texts from Jill?” Don’t forget that Google Assistant comes in handy with Android Auto, too.

How Do You Use Google Assistant?

Now you know some of the less-obvious tasks that Google Assistant can help you complete. The Assistant gets starter all the time, so don’t be afraid to ask something different and see what happens!

There’s lots more to learn with Google Assistant. Check out the most popular “OK Google” commands, or get more advanced with Google Assistant routines.

Read the full article: 10 Things You Didn’t Know Google Assistant Could Do

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