The basics of Google Assistant are very easy to understand but there are a lot of features beneath the surface that you might be unaware of. With the list of supported devices growing each day, you can be sure that every Google Android smartphone supports Google Assistant and perhaps comes pre-installed as the default virtual assistant. If you are wondering how to use it then this article covers a few features and gets you started.
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Google Assistant is the virtual voice assistant form Google and allows you to get work done faster. Instead of performing tasks manually by tapping with your finger on the screen through multiple steps, you can get it done easily using your voice commands. Google Assistant is smart and very well integrated into your smartphone. The virtual assistant can open apps, send messages, or make calls. You can also ask Google Assistant to play a specific song on an app such as Spotify or check the weather updates in your location without even touching your smartphone screen.
Google Assistant harvests all the voice recognition technology developed by the company and additional AI helping the virtual assistant improve the performance and results with each passing day. Google Assistant is not limited to smartphones and we now find it on smart speakers, wear OS devices, headphones, and even cars that support Android Auto.
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How to Use Google Assistant!
To use Google Assistant on your Android smartphone you will need to make sure it is enabled, most smartphones now have Google Assistant-enabled by default. In an off chance that you do not have it enabled you can open the Google app on your device and tap on the More option in the bottom right corner. You can then head to the Settings and Select Google Assistant. Move to the Assistant tab and tap on the phone option at the bottom and ensure you have the Google Assistant-enabled along with Hey Google option.
- Open the Google app on your smartphone
- Navigate to the More option in the bottom right corner of the screen
- Head to the Settings section and select Google Assistant
- Now move to the Assistant tab and then tap on the Phone option
- Enable the Google Assistant option here
- Enable the Hey Google option to enable voice recognition
Now that the Google Assistant is turned On you can take it for a test. Get started by either uttering “Ok, Google” or “Hey, Google” before saying the command. You can try a demo by uttering “Hey Google”, “Set an alarm for 5:30 am” You will need to have the phone unlocked for this to work and if the screen is turned off when you say the command it might not work. Google Assistant will hear the command but ask you to unlock the phone before performing the tasks in some cases, while this might seem annoying, it is implemented for security reasons.
There are a few methods to pull up the Google Assistant, you can press and hold the home button and wait for the Assistant to pop up. If you have set up the new gestures on the Android 10 then you will not have a home button, in this case, you can swipe up from the bottom left or right edge of the display to bring up the Google Assistant. Some smartphones from Nokia and LG also come with a dedicated Google Assistant button.
Google Assistant also comes with a typing option if you do not prefer to give it voice commands. It can come very handy when you are in public and want to get your work done silently. Tap on the keyboard icon in the Assistant screen to summon the keyboard and start typing the commands easily.
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Google Assistant with Smartwatches
There are a lot of Google WearOS based smartwatches in the market these days and almost all of them support Google Assistant built-in. You will have to connect the smartphone to a compatible smartphone or set up Wi-Fi on the watch and ensure a Google account is configured and enabled.
Once you have your smartwatch fully configured and connected to a Google account you can use the dedicated button or home button on your smartwatch to trigger and summon Google Assistant. Most smartwatches even support Hey Google detection allowing you to summon Google without even touching your smartwatch.
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Google Assistant with Headphones
You can use the Google Assistant with your headphones, while most earbuds now come with a trigger command to activate the voice assistants, a few come with dedicated support for the voice assistants making it fully compatible. There are some including the latest Google Pixel Buds and Sony’s extremely popular and capable WH-1000XM3 noise-canceling headphones. You can summon the Google Assistant with the tap or press of a button on the headphones and then give it commands to either skip the song or make a call. These headphones can be configured form the Settings section of the Google assistant and from the dedicated apps that most of these headset manufacturers offer.
