Michael Grothaus 12/04/2017 - 2:27pm

Master Google Home with these tips and tricks!

The smart speaker wars are heating up. First, it was Amazon's Echo with its Alexia personal assistant and now it's Google’s Home with Google assistant. The latter only recently became available in the U.K. and it’s already built up a big following thanks in part to the power of Google’s AI software. Since the device is always listening, you interact with it by simply saying “OK, Google” and then speak your command and query.

Google Home has a lot of built-in features most people know already. For example, you can ask Home to translate “apple” from English to French. Or you can ask it what the weather is like in your area for this weekend. But the Assistant can also do a lot of other cool, fun, and smart things–provided you know the commands. So here in this article we list the top 10 cool things you can do with Google Home.

Order An Uber

Once you’ve linked your Uber account with Home (by going to the Home app on your smartphone and navigating to Settings > More Settings > Services) simply say “OK Google, get me an Uber” and one will be sent to your house.

Turn Off the Lights In Your Flat

This only works if you have Home-compatible smart lights, but increasingly there are tons of them available from different companies. So if, for example, you have Philips Hue lights in your flat you can say “OK Google, turn off my lights” and Home will shut off your lights. You can turn them on too, of course. Or you can tell Home to change the lighting color by saying “OK Google, turn the kitchen green.”

Play 20 Questions

The classic trivia game is built in to Google Home. Say “OK Google, let me talk to Akinator,” and the game will start. But with this game you think of the answer and let Akinator guess what you are thinking of. Akinator will narrow down to the right answer by asking you questions. It’s pretty cool.

Check If A Store Is Still Open

Say “OK Google, check when the nearest grocery store is closing” and Home will tell you when the closest one to your house is open until. This of course works for all kinds of businesses, from movie theaters to pharmacies.

Find Your Missing Phone

This is great for when you misplace your smartphone around your house. By using the app IFTTT you can create a recipe with Home that allows you to say “OK Google, find my phone.” Once this recipe is set up an alert will go off on your phone that lets you discover its whereabouts.

Create A Shopping List

This is a great feature for those who like to use Home in the kitchen. If you’re going through the fridge or your pantries and see you’re out of or running low on an item simply say “OK Google, add coffee to my shopping list” and Home will add it. You can then access your shopping list via your normal Google apps on your smartphone when you are out.

Control Netflix

Home can communicate seamlessly with Chromecast devices. Once you’ve linked your Chromecast devices to Home and any video or audio apps to Home (by going to the Home app on your smartphone and navigating to Settings > More Settings > Videos and Photos) you can simply say “OK Google, play ‘Daredevil’ season one” and Home will bring up the Netflix show on your TV.

See Your Pictures On Your TV

As with video accounts like Netflix, you can also give Home access to your photo accounts, like your Google Photos account. Once you link the accounts together you can simply say something like “OK Google, show me pictures from my Paris trip in 2014” and Home will bring up the photos on your Chromecast-enabled TV.

Send WhatsApp Messages

Another good account to link with Home is your WhatsApp account. Once you’ve done this you can simply say “OK Google, send a WhatsApp message to Mary” and then dictate the message. It will automatically be sent.

Laugh

Yes, Google Home can even tell you jokes. Simply say “OK Google, tell me a joke” and Assistant will read off some zingers based on the wit of Pixar and The Onion.

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