For instance, using Google Assistant, you can get the weather updates, set reminders/alarms, control your smart home devices, play content on Chromecast, open apps, and get real-time scores, among other things. However, to perform any of these operations using Google Assistant, you need to know the correct commands. Here’s a listicle of the best Google Assistant commands that can help you use Google Assistant on your Android device or any compatible smart speaker more effectively.
How to Use Google Assistant Commands
Before diving in and checking out the various Google Assistant commands and the operations they can perform, it’s essential to know how to use them. Almost all Google Assistant commands require you to say Hey Google or Ok Google to invoke Google Assistant, after which you simply need to say the command to perform your desired operation. Or, if you don’t have the voice trigger enabled, you need to hit the microphone icon in the Google app and issue a command.
Best Google Assistant Commands for Android and Smart Home Speakers
Below is a list of various Google Assistant commands you can use on your Android smartphone, tablet, or any compatible smart speaker, like the Google Home. We’ve categorized these commands into various sections so that it’s convenient to find them.
1. Google Assistant Commands for Playing and Controlling Media
Many smart speakers these days offer support for Google Assistant. If you own one of these devices (or even an Android device), you can use it to listen to songs, podcasts, or audiobooks by simply asking Google Assistant to play them. The following music and media commands should give you an idea of how to do this.
Play music: “Hey Google, play some [artist name] music.” Hey Google, play some [genre] music.” “Hey Google, play [song name] by [artist name].” Play music on Chromecast: Hey Google, play [song/artist/playlist] on Chromecast.” Identify a song: “Hey Google, what’s playing?” or “Hey Google, what song is this?” Adjust the volume: “Hey Google, turn it up.” Hey Google, turn it down.” Fast-forward or rewind: “Hey Google, skip forward [X seconds].” “Hey Google, skip backward [X seconds].” Skip a track: “Hey Google, skip this track.” Play a podcast: “Hey Google, play the [podcast name] on [service name].” “Hey Google, play the latest episode of [podcast name] on [service name].” Listen to an audiobook: “Hey Google, read [book title] on Audiobook.” Continue listening to your most recent book: “Hey Google, read my book.”
2. Google Assistant Commands to Get News, Weather, and Traffic Updates
At times, there would be situations where you’d be working, driving, or going about your daily activities with your hands occupied and would wish to get the latest news, weather, or traffic updates. For such situations, Google Assistant has a bunch of commands to help you check the weather conditions or catch up on the latest news hands-free. Here are a few such commands you can use in an everyday scenario.
Check the weather: “Hey Google, what’s the weather like?” “Hey Google, what’s the weather like in [city name]?” Get the latest news: “Hey Google, tell me the news.” “Hey Google, what’s the latest in [field]?” “Hey Google, tell me news from [news source name].” “Hey Google, listen to [news source name].” Check traffic: “Hey Google, how’s the traffic to [place]?” Get distance: “Hey Google, what’s the distance to [location name].” “Hey Google, how far is [location name] from [location name]?” Get directions: “Hey Google, navigate to [location name].” “Hey Google, navigate to [place].”
3. Google Assistant Commands for Online Search
Google Assistant’s greatest strength is its voice search feature, which lets you look up things on the internet without having to open the web browser. Depending on what you want to search for online, here are a bunch of useful Google Assistant commands that can come in handy.
Look up something: “Hey Google, what is [name of the thing]?” Get facts: “Hey Google, who is the [lead character] in [movie]?” “Hey Google, how [tall] is [K2]?” Get calorie count: “Hey Google, how many calories does [food name] have?” Get sports updates: “Hey Google, when is [team] playing next?” Get the latest scores: “Hey Google, who’s winning between [team 1] and [team 2]?” Define a word: “Hey Google, define [word].” Listen to a word’s pronunciation: “Hey Google, how do you pronounce [word]?” Use Google’s interpreter mode: “Hey Google, be my [language] interpreter.” Translate a text/phrase: “Hey Google, what do you say [word/phrase] in [language]?” Perform an image search: Hey Google, show me an image of [object/thing/person].”
4. Google Assistant Commands for Phone Operations
Aside from offering you the ability to perform advanced operations, like the ones we’ve talked about so far, Google Assistant also lets you carry out a bunch of trivial operations. Making phone calls and sending/reading messages happen to be some phone operations, among many, that Google Assistant can simplify. Below are some of the most helpful phone operation commands you should start using immediately.
Make a call: “Hey Google, call [contact name].” “Hey Google, call [business name].” “Hey Google, call [number].” Redial: “Hey Google, redial.” Send a message: “Hey Google, send a message to [contact name].” Send a message on WhatsApp: “Hey Google, send a message to [contact name] on WhatsApp.” Have your messages read: “Hey Google, read my messages.” Open an app: “Hey Google, open [app name].” Find your phone: “Hey Google, find my phone.”
5. Google Assistant Commands for Everyday Tasks and Planning
Most of us start our day by either checking our agenda or adding new tasks that need to be tackled during the day. Although manually performing these tasks is probably what many of us do, you’d be surprised to know how many of them can be performed using voice. Here’s a list of some of the most useful Google Assistant commands to use in your everyday life.
Add a calendar event: “Hey Google, add a meeting to my calendar.” “Hey Google, schedule an event for me on [date and time].” View what’s on your calendar: “Hey Google, what’s on my agendar for [day]?” “Hey Google, when’s my first meeting [day/date]?” Reschedule/cancel an event: “Hey Google, reschedule my meeting with [contact name] at [date/time].”; “Hey Google, cancel my meeting with [contact name] on/at [time/date].” Save parking location: “Hey Google, I parked here.” “Hey Google, I parked on [level X].” “Hey Google, my parking space is [spot name/number].” Get parking location: “Hey Google, where did I park.” Tell the assistant to remember something: “Hey Google, remember that [the thing to remember].” Find a recipe: “Hey Google, find me a [food] recipe.” “Hey Google, how do I make [food]?” Set an alarm: “Hey Google, set an alarm for [time] [day].” “Hey Google, wake me up at [time] [day].” Find alarms: “Hey Google, what alarms are set?” “Hey Google, show me my alarms.” Set a reminder: “Hey Google, set a reminder.” “Hey Google, remind me to [thing to be reminded].” Check reminders: “Hey Google, what are my reminders.” “Hey Google, open reminders.” Create a shopping list: “Hey Google, create a [store] shopping list.” Buy goods online: “Hey Google, buy [product name] from [website].” “Hey Google, order [product name] from [website].”
6. Google Assistant Commands to Plan a Trip or an Outdoor Visit
Similar to helping you with many everyday tasks, Google Assistant also offers a bunch of useful commands to make it easier for you to plan your travels, such as booking a flight, reserving a room, or booking a table at a restaurant be performed using simple commands. Here are some commonly-used Google Assistant commands for planning a trip or an outdoor visit.
Make a booking/reservation: “Hey Google, book a table for [number of people] at [restaurant/cafe name].” “Hey Google, make me a reservation at [restaurant name].” Book a hotel: “Hey Google, book me a room at [hotel name] in [location name] on [date].” “Hey Google, reserve a room at [hotel name] in [location].” Find flights: “Hey Google, find me flights to [place].” “Hey Google, find non-stop flights to [place] on [airline name].” Check your upcoming flight details: “Hey Google, is my flight on time?” “Hey Google, check in to my flight?”
7. Google Assistant Commands to Control Your Smart Home
If you’ve built a smart home using various smart devices, you can use Google Assistant to control many of the compatible devices. Google Assistant offers the following list of commands to help you do this.
Turn a light on/off: “Hey Google, turn on [light name].” “Hey Google, turn off [light].” Set a light’s brightness: “Hey Google, dim [light name] to [percentage].” Change the color of a light: “Hey Google, [light name] [color].” Turn a switch on/off: “Hey Google, turn on [switch name].” “Hey Google, turn off [switch name].” Adjust the thermostat: “Hey Google, raise the temperature.” “Hey Google, lower the temperature.” Check the ambient temperature: “Hey Google, what’s the temperature inside?” Check the thermostat temperature: Hey Google, what’s the thermostat set to?”
8. Miscellaneous Google Assistant Commands
In addition to the Google Assistant commands we’ve listed categorically so far, there are several other useful commands that you can use with Google Assistant to accomplish many other useful and interesting operations. This section includes a list of many such commands.
Delete recent voice commands: “Hey Google, delete what I just said.” “Hey Google, that wasn’t for you.” Delete commands from a particular time frame: “Hey Google, delete everything I said [today/yesterday/this week/this month/this year]” Delete activity: “Hey Google, delete [today’s/yesterday’s/this week’s] activity.” Know your daily screen time: “Hey Google, how much time did I spend on my phone today?” “Hey Google, how much time did I spend on [app] today?” Set a timer for an app: “Hey Google, set a [app] timer for [X minutes].” Limit distractions: “Hey Google, start Wind Down now.” Turn on/off Chromecast: Hey Google, turn on Chromecast.” Hey Google, turn off Chromecast.”
Explore the Possibilities of Google Assistant
Google Assistant is an excellent tool and one of the most valuable additions to Android phones, tablets, smart home devices, and smart speakers: one that simplifies many trivial tasks and makes complex ones easy to perform. Of course, knowing the right command sets is vital in using Google Assistant to your advantage. We’ve listed some of the most useful Google Assistant commands that span a wide range of operations and tasks in this listicle. We hope familiarizing yourself with them can help you in your everyday life and aid you in getting things done more efficiently.
