Google Assistant is a fairly modern tool that is present in all Google phones, the Pixels, as well as in other devices that work with Android from other manufacturers such as Motorola, OPPO, Samsung or Xiaomi. Because it can run as an app, you can also access the Google Assistant on Apple products like iPhone and iPad.
Of course, we can not only make use of it on our mobile phones, as it makes an appearance on tablets, smart watches and a complete range of products for the smart home such as the Nest Mini or Google Home speakers, speakers with which you can interact with your voice.
But, in this tutorial, we are going to focus on everything that the company’s smart tool offers on our Android smartphones . We’ll show you how to turn it on (or off), configure it correctly, and show you the many things you can do on your smartphone with its help.
The google assistant
If you have heard of Siri, Bixby or Alexa, surely it is easier for you to understand what this is. Just as Apple, Samsung or Amazon have their own Artificial Intelligence tools, Google does the same through Assistant. It’s a virtual assistant that’s available, as we just said, on mobile devices and other smart home gadgets.
It started out as Google Now, but a few years ago Google’s AI took the plunge and was definitively transformed into Google Assistant, whose main novelty is that it can participate in two-way conversations.
After a period of exclusivity on the firm’s own phones, it began rolling out to other devices running the Android operating system in February 2017. Today, it’s present on millions of devices, ready to help us in our day. to day, either to find out what the weather is going to do, find an address, create routines and even tell us jokes.
Turn Google Assistant on and off
There are some smartphones in which this assistant is already enabled by default , but that does not mean that the same thing happens in all of them. That is why it is just as important to learn to activate this tool, if your mobile does not have it enabled by default, or vice versa, deactivate it if you do not like what it does.
Activate Google Assistant
To use the Google Assistant on your Android smartphone where it is not activated by default, you must first enable it. Many times users do not know where to find the option, but we already told you that everything that has to do with the Google Assistant configuration is done from the Google app that you should have installed on your mobile. If not, download it from the following link:
Then follow these steps:
- Open the Google app.
- Tap your profile button in the top right corner of the screen
- Go to the app Settings
- Find Google Assistant options
- Press General and activate the Assistant button
How to disable Google Assistant
In case you already had it enabled and you don’t like it, or you activated it following the steps above and got tired of it, as you might guess, killing the tool is as simple as following the above process, but in reverse :
- Open the Google app.
- Tap your profile button in the top right corner of the screen
- Go to the app Settings
- Find Google Assistant options
- Press General and disable the Assistant button
Essential Settings
Once we have activated the Google function , we must configure it correctly so that it works as God intended and so that it does not fail when it comes to recognizing our voice or the orders we give it.
Show it your voice
Our voice is the most important tool when interacting with the Google system . Therefore, you can teach your voice to your assistant again for the first time if you have never done it before, or, if you have previously configured it, ‘train’ it again if you do not like how Google Assistant reacts to you. To do so, you must follow these steps:
- Once again, open the Google app on your phone
- Then click on the Account icon
- Then go into Settings
- Finally access the Wizard options
- Then click on Voice Match and show your voice to your assistant
Activate it in different ways
Once you have the tool activated and you have taught it your voice, you can run it on your mobile in up to 4 different ways.
Use voice commands
When the Assistant is activated, you can say ‘ OK, Google ‘ or ‘Hey Google’ or even ‘Hey Google’ to bring it up on screen. You can then ask him anything you want, such as opening an app, searching the web for information, or finding out the results of a football match.
Of course, for it to work you must have the smartphone unlocked .
Long press the Home button
If you go into your smartphone’s gesture settings, you’ll find that you can launch Google Assistant by holding down the Home button on your phone for just a couple of seconds. The phones of some brands have it configured this way by default, so if you don’t like it, you simply have to access the terminal’s gesture settings to skip it.
Slide your finger across the screen
This is an alternative for all those users who prefer not to use virtual buttons on Android. Without them, you can’t press the home button, which is replaced by the option to swipe from the bottom right corner of the screen to the center of the panel.
The bad thing about this system is that it usually conflicts with specific tools of some applications, such as the possibility of blocking voice notes in WhatsApp, whose gesture is practically identical.
Hold down the lock button
Finally, if we go back to the gesture menu that we are going to find in the settings of our mobiles, we will have the possibility to make Google Assistant start if we hold down the lock button for a few seconds .
This possibility is only present in some customization layers, such as OPPO’s ColorOS or realme’s realme UI.
What can I do for you?
Now that you have it configured, it knows your voice and you know all the ways you have to activate it, it’s time to know everything you can do with the assistant.
In fact, if you ask him ‘ What can you do ‘, it will be the tool itself that will discover all the possibilities that it offers you as an Android user. However, we summarize some of the most interesting.
To do this, we will always use the ‘Hey Google’ command.
Search the web
The first thing you are going to do with your smartphone as soon as you activate the Assistant is to ask it anything . Whether it is the birth of a painter, the billboard of a cinema or the result of a basketball game. The correct command would be the following:
- ‘Hey Google, what theaters can I see Jurassic World in?’
set an alarm
The Google Assistant allows you to carry out from the easiest tasks to the most daily. The perfect example of this is the ability to set alarms and reminders simply by asking them with the appropriate voice command.
- ‘Hey Google, set an alarm for 9:00′
If you wish, you can also set a countdown or create reminders in much the same way:
- ‘Hey Google, remind me to take the pan off the heat in 15 minutes’
- ‘Hey Google, start a 10 minute countdown’
Sync your calendar
If you use the Google calendar to write down your appointments and reminders, Google Assistant can notify you of your agenda for the next day or the day you need to consult. Just say:
- ‘Hey Google, what am I going to do tomorrow /day X’
Open apps with your voice
If you want to open an application that you can’t find the first time on your mobile, you just have to ask the Google Assistant to open it and it will start without you having to press any button.
- ‘Hey Google, open Google Maps’
Activate mobile functions
Toggle Bluetooth, Wi-Fi connectivity, your phone’s flashlight, and just about every other control option on your smartphone’s shortcut panel without ever having to touch it at all. You can either enable the options or disable them.
- ‘Hey Google, turn on Bluetooth / Wi-Fi / Flashlight…’
find something nearby
Google Assistant uses all the company’s services, including Google Maps. To place ourselves in a certain place. If you want to find the supermarket, medical center or a specific restaurant near you, all you have to do is ask the assistant. Depending on the information that the business has on the Network, different data will be shown to you.
- ‘Hey Google, where is a hospital nearby’
traffic information
The digital assistants work perfectly when they are connected to the Internet. This is perfect to know the traffic conditions in real time through the Google maps system. If you don’t want to be late for an appointment or work, you can always ask your mobile this:
- ‘Ok Google, how long does it take to get to work’
Of course, this will only work if you have previously established your important addresses in Google Maps. If not, you will have to consult a specific address to the assistant.
recognize songs
Google Assistant inherits functions from applications as famous as Shazam. This allows you to know what song is playing or what group it is from simply by putting the smartphone to listen. Use this command:
- ‘Hey Google, what song is playing’
After asking, the assistant will start listening to the noise of the environment and will provide us with the topic in question and the platforms where we can find it.
news information
Google will tell you about the news of the day and will also show you the key headlines from your favorite media outlets. You can ask him about the news of the day or about the content of a specific newspaper. In addition, you can also ask for detailed information on a particular topic: ask for sports or political news, for example, and you will get a list of cards with different sources.
- ‘Ok Google, tell me the news of the day’
Control home automation
Google Assistant is, like Alexa, one of the best virtual assistants on the market that we can use to control all the smart devices in the home.
Most smart lighting systems can be controlled via your phone, just like other home appliances like air fryers or even your TV.
To do this, you’ll first need to set up the Google Home app.
Later, when you have all the devices added, you simply have to execute the appropriate commands.
- ‘Hey Google, turn off the hallway light’
- ‘Ok Google, turn on the TV in the room’
- ‘Hey Google, turn down the volume on the TV’
Make calls or video calls
If you want to call a contact that you have saved in the phone book, you just have to ask the assistant.
- ‘Ok Google, call Lucia’
You can also make video calls. In this case we cannot use any app, but Google Duo. We know that it is not one of the most used messaging apps at the moment, but it never hurts to know that you can make it work through the tool of our smartphone.
- ‘Hey Google, make a video call to Lucia’
Create routines with the Google Assistant
If you don’t want to memorize all the commands that we can use with the wizard (we’ve named a few, but there are many more), you’ll be happy to know that you can easily set up routines .
In essence, these schedules are a series of custom commands that trigger different tasks automatically. For example, you can say, ‘Hey Google, good morning’ and have the assistant read us the news of the day while turning on the kitchen lights. If, on the other hand, we set up a routine like ‘Hey Google, good night’ it could turn off all the lights and play music to sleep if we have previously configured it.
By default there are already several routines created that you can edit as you wish, delete them, or create some new ones. All you have to do is follow the steps below:
- Open the Google Home app
- Select the Routines option
- Click on Add and select a first element
- Choose the voice command that will activate the routine (For example, ‘Good afternoon’ ), a time or a moment of the day
- Select Add action
- Choose what you want the mobile to do from the list that appears on the screen.
- Finally, click on the Save option