How To Use Google Assistant To Organize Your Life

Millions of wireless speakers, smart devices, and phones are available across the world but google assistant has secured an important place in the modern home – and with good reason.

Google Assistant can do the things are incredibly varied; the powerful voice assistant answering your general knowledge questions and checking your emails and appointments.

By using artificial intelligence it’s getting smarter all the time, to learn and adapt, maturing and becoming more useful day-by-day. Many smart devices adding Google integration to their spec-list, it’s easier to control your smart home using the clever voice assistant.

So, if you’re new to Google Assistant read our comprehensive guide to learn how to use Google Assistant in every situation.

What is Google Assistant?

Google Assistant is basically a Google’s voice assistant, and it’s available on smartphones and smart home devices. It is powered by artificial intelligence, Google’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Microsoft’s Cortana.

Which devices support Google Assistant?

If you are assuming that Google Assistant is only available on smartphones, the Google Home range of speakers – which includes the Google Home Mini, Google Home Max – and smart displays like the Google Home Hub and Google Next Hub Max then you could be forgiven.

Basically, Google Assistant comes in huge range of build-in third-party devices, like the Sonos One speaker, the Ticwatch E2 smartwatch, and even some cars.

While many of us would opt to use Google Assistant via a speaker or smartphone, there’s no reason why some of the devices couldn’t be used to control your smart home – apart from the inconvenience of hauling yourself into your car every time you just want to turn the lights on.

How to set up Google Assistant on your phone

Android devices lay step over iOS devices when it comes to using Google Assistant on your smartphone. Basically, Google’s mobile operating system was developed by Google.

If you’re using Android 5.0 version you can simply hold down the Home button or say “OK Google” to enable the assistant. If you have turned this feature off, your phone will notify you to turn it on. And then you can ask a question to GA or give it a command.

You can also enable GA using its app, or if you have a Pixels like Pixel 2, Pixel 3, or Pixel 3A, you can just squeeze the bottom half of your phone, which is pretty neat.

Well if you deal with iPhone, you officially need to download the GA app from the App Store and open it every time you want to give it a command or ask a question.

However, there is a shortcut you can use to enable voice activation for the AI assistant, which means you hijack Siri. Simply enable a Siri shortcut phrase and it will help you to open the Google Assistant app with a phrase – for example, “Hey Siri, Hey Google.”

An article “Lifewire” describes the process you need to complete to do this, it’s a useful feature if you want the same features as an Android user.

The best ways to organize your life with Google Assistant

Another great feature is that from checking the events in your calendar to making shopping lists, GA can act as your personal PR – and you don’t have to pay it for the privilege, either.

If you are not sure what your day looks like? You can easily ask GA to take a look at your calendar and give you an overview of your events for the day by asking questions like “Hey Google, when’s my next event?”

Not only this but side by side you can also schedule appointments, and ask Google to tell you about your upcoming day when you wake up in the morning.

Another interesting feature is the ability to make lists, hands-free – and it can even read them back to you when you’re done.

You can also be setting reminders which are also super useful: all you have to do is say something like “Hey Google remind me to call Mom at nine pm tonight”, and it will give you some nudge ahead of time.

You can also set location-based reminders and recurring reminders.

Also Read: How to set Back sensitivity setting on Android 10 to avoid issues with Back action

Using Google Assistant to control your smart home

Perhaps one of the best and interesting things GA can do is to control your smart home, acting as a single voice-activated hub for your connected light bulbs, smart thermostats, and even your outdoor security camera.

By using a smartphone or tablet to set up your smart home devices to work with Google Assistant.

After that, you can set nicknames for your devices and assign them to different rooms in your house – helpful if you have a lot of different smart devices.

Now you will be able to ask GA to do things like “turn off the lights in the bedroom”, “turn down the thermostat”, and if you have a GA smart display or TV, “show the front door camera” for a Livestream of your security camera’s view and so on.

Nowadays there are lots of brands that work with GA, including Philips Hue lightbulbs, Neato robot vacuums, and of course, products from Google-owned company Nest, which includes devices like the Nest Thermostat-E, and the Nest Cam IQ.

Playing music with GA

If you want to play music using GA, you’ll need a smart speaker or smart display with Google Assistant built-in, like the Google Home Mini, Google Home Max, Google Home Hub, and Google Next Hub Max.

Google Assistant provides a number of third-party speakers, like the Sonos One, the Marshall Stanmore II Voice, and the JBL Link Bar, to name a few.

If you want to listen to music on GA smart speaker, you simply need to say “OK Google”, and give the voice assistant a command.

For example, you ask also Google to “play Changes by XXXTENTACION”. You can also ask Google Assistant to play music in a particular genre or mood, for example, music for driving, cooking or relaxing music.

How to control your TV with GA

You can also control your hands-free using GA whether you’re tucking into your favorite Netflix series or watching a film you rented through Google Play,

You can play and control your TV with either the Chromecast dongle or built-in Chromecast software by giving commands to your smartphone or Google Home speaker.

If you have and Android TV, you should be able to speak directly after giving commands to your remote control; if your remote control doesn’t have a microphone then you’ll have to give commands to the Google Assistant built inside your smartphone, or a Google Home speaker.

As well as asking Google Assistant things you can also turn your Android TV on and off, open apps like Netflix and YouTube, and play, pause, resume, and stop the playback very efficiently.

Also Read: How to exit Android 10 beta program on your Pixel without wiping data or reset

Taking Google Assistant on holiday

Google Assistant also helps you in traveling using Google Maps. If you are an iPhone user? Just download the app from the App Store first and then access it.

For example, if you want to find the best way to get home from work, you must enter an address like ‘Home’ in the Google Maps app.

After that, you can say “take me home” to Google Assistant, and it will retrieve information from Google Maps to show the best route based on your current location.

You can also check for traffic updates, book flights, and accommodation hands-free, as well as converting currencies and translating languages.