7 useful features you can try out with Google Home

Having a Google Home device in your home can be quite useful as Google Assistant can do a variety of different tasks for you, from finding information and keeping track of personal calendar for each family member, to managing other smart devices around the house and guiding you through your daily routines. Even though any Google Home user can pick up on the way the device works pretty fast, there are some features that are not as popular but can be quite useful. Here are our Google Home tips you can try out yourself.

Remember where you placed something

It often happens that we misplace something around the home or even try to place it in a “safe” place that we will remember later but we end up looking for it for so long. Google Home can help you remember where you stored it. For example, if you need to remember where your charger is, you can say “Hey Google, my charger is in the second drawer”, and later on ask “Hey Google, where is my charger?” after which you will get a quick response. Google can also track your phone down and even ring it to make it easier to find by saying “Hey Google, find my phone” or “Hey Google, ring my phone”.

Connect your guests with Google Home

Having your guests connect to your Google Home just in order to play one song or ask some question can be quite a tedious process. This is why Google Home offers Guest mode. This feature allows guests to control certain features on the devices without going through a complicated process, but rather by just inputting a 4 digit PIN. In order to use Guest mode, users have to have the Home app that will allow anyone with the set code to connect to the device.

Get a helper in the kitchen

Google Home makes following any recipe instructions very simple. Google offers over 5 million different recipes from a variety of sources and since of recently, it can help you during the cooking process, one step at the time. After choosing the meal you wish to prepare, send it to Google Home and simply say “Hey Google, start cooking” or “Hey Google, start recipe”, and it will give you a step by step instructions without having to deal with phones or laptops in the kitchen. Each time you finish a step, you can say “Hey Google, next step” and it will tell you what you should do next.

Control Google Home by touch

Not a lot of Google Home users know that this smart speaker can actually be controlled through touch instead of only by voice commands. In some cases it can be a bit awkward to say “Hey Google, can you turn up the volume by 10%?” if you are sitting right beside the device. There isn’t a lot of touch controls integrated, but Google Home allows you to tap on the sides in order to control volume or you can hold for a couple of seconds to pause or play music.

Create a shopping list

It happens every so often that you realize you are missing something in the house but, in an attempt to remember the item without writing it down, you completely forget about it. Google Home can keep a list for you and recall anything off of it whenever asked to. To add, for example, eggs to the grocery list, simply say “Hey Google, please add eggs to my shopping list”. Google can read the list at any time, or you can access it through the Google Shopping List app on your smartphone.

Google Home is your dictionary

If you are ever stuck and can’t remember what a word means, Google can jump in and save the day. Simply say “Hey Google, what is the definition of …?” or “Hey Google, what does … mean?” and it will tell you the most accurate definition of the word or a phrase, without you having to take your phone and check what does it mean.

Set up shortcuts and routines

Some of the most used Google Home phrases can be used through a shortcut, making it easier to start up an often performed action without having to explain it all over again each time. For example, instead of asking for a favorite playlist when you get home in order to relax, you can just say “Hey Google, chill”, and it will automatically play what you wanted. This feature can be found and modified under Shortcuts in the Home app.

As of recently, Google added a list of short phrases that can be said that will trigger a certain routine which can be set up in the app as well. For example, you can say “Hey Google, good morning” and it will tell you what the weather will be like for the day, what is the traffic like or what things are on your to-do list for the day.

 

This list contains only 7 out of hundreds of tasks Google Home can do for you. Google even created the official list with many action categories that you can check out in order to find out more about your own Google Home and how to use it in the best possible way and with the best possible outcome.

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