Google Home, Google's voice-enabled rival to Amazon's Echo range of devices, is an extremely capable device. But it's no use if one doesn't know what it can do. The little piece of tech, just slightly larger than a wide-rimmed flower vase, sits on the corner of one's house ready to listen.
So it's up to you to, well, talk to it. Tell it to count. Roll a 12-sided die. Ask for recipes. Translate sentences. Hail an Uber ride. Ask for a word's proper spelling. Play music. Make the room colder. Turn the lights off. Whatever. Master these commands and you'll be spending conversations with Google Home more than you'll do with friends.
Here's a complete list of voice commands Google Home can respond to. Bookmark this page, if you will, so you can review the commands from time to time should you forget.
Common Commands
"OK Google" or "Hey Google" is always the first sentence one utters when using Assistant, the voice recognition technology powering Home. It's the trigger command that confirms one is about to shout a command. Be sure to say this phrase first before saying anything.
With that out of the way, here are some basic voice controls you should know:
• Ask for help: "Help."
• Volume controls: "Turn it up" or, "Louder," or "Volume number [specific number up to 11]."
• Stop an action: "Stop" or, "Pause," "Be Quiet," or "Shut up."
Send Feedback To Google
Insult Google Home, and it'll always trigger the ability to send feedback. Here's a few examples:
• "F*** you!"
• "You suck."
• "You're the worst."
• "Can I speak to your manager?"
Tools And Cool Things You Can Do
Some useful tasks you can ask Google Home to do:
• Count: "Count to [specific number]."
• Roll dice: "Roll a die" or, "Roll a 12-sided die."
• Flip a coin: "Flip a coin."
• Random number: "Give me a random number between [x] and [x]"
• Math calculations: "What's [x] plus [x]?" or, "What's [x] times [x] minus [x] plus [x]?" or, "what is the value of Pi?" or, "Recite Pi."
• Measurement conversion: "How many feet are in a mile?" or "How many pints are in a gallon?"
• Currency conversion: "How much is $300 in Japanese Yen?"
• Time: "What time is it?" or "What time is it in New York?"
• Location: "Where am I?"
• Timer: "Set a timer for [x] minutes" or "Set a [time] timer for [name]" and then "How much is left on my [name] timer?" or "Cancel my [name] timer."
• Recipes: "How do I make Pakora?" or "How do I make sloppy joes?" Any dish, basically.
• Shopping list: "Add [item] to my shopping list" or "What's on my shopping list?"
• Daily briefing: "Good morning" will bring up a personalized greeting, weather and traffic information, and curated news. Or you can "Skip."
• Say goodbye: "See you later, Google!"
• Repeat: "Repeat after me: [phrase or sentence]."
Translate (A Few) Languages
Google Home can translate a few languages for you. Here's how.
• Translations: "How do you say 'I love you' in Spanish?" or, "[Foreign word or phrase] in [language to be translated to]."
• Home currently supports translations from the following languages to other languages: Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
• Spelling: "Spell [word]."
• Google Home can spell English words and translate them to foreign languages, but it can't spell foreign words, for now.
Search For Anything
• Stocks: "How's [company's] stocks doing?"
• Weather: "How's the weather today?" or "How's the weather today in [city]?" or "What's the forecast for [upcoming day]?" or "Do I need an umbrella today?"
• Traffic: "What's the traffic like on the way to [work, home, business name]?"
• Definitions: "What does [word] mean?" or "Define [word]."
• Events: "When is [specific holiday or event]?"
• People: "Who is [person]?"
• Facts: How old is [person]?" or "How tall is [structure]?"
• Things or objects: "What is [thing or object]?"
• Places: "What country is [city] in?"
• Sounds: "What does [animal] sound like?"
• Distance: "How far is [place] from here?"
• Restaurants: "What are the nearest restaurants to me?"
• Businesses: "Are there any [businesses] around here?"
• Businesses information: "How late is [business] open?" or "Is [business] in [city] open now?"
• Quotes: "Give me a quote," or "Give me a love quote."
• Medical information: "What is [illness, disease, injury, and others]?"
• Calorie count: "How many calories are in [food]?"
• Literature: "When was [book] published?" or "Who wrote [book]?"
• Inventors: "Who invented [item or technology]?"
• Founders: "Who founded [company]?"
Planning Ahead
Some phrases you can ask Google Home, so it can help with your plans ahead of time:
• "When's my first appointment tomorrow?"
• "Wake me up at 6 a.m. tomorrow"
• "Tell me about my day"
• "What's my calendar for Friday?"
• "When/what/where is my first event/meeting?"
• "When/what/where is my next event/meeting /agenda/calendar?"
Playing Media
• Music: "Play some music" or "Play some [genre] music."
• Play artist or song: "Play [artist]" or "Play [song]."
• Search song by lyrics: "Play the song that goes, [state a few lyrics]."
• Ask what's playing: "What song is this?" or "What album is this?" or "Who is this?"
• Get more information: "When was this album released?"
• Fast forward or rewind: "Skip forward 2 minutes" or "Skip backward 30 seconds."
• Play via a music service: "Play [artist on Pandora/Spotify/YouTube Music]."
• Like/dislike: "Thumbs up" or "Dislike this song."
• Play through other speakers via Chromecast: "Cast [song] onto [speaker name]."
• Play stations on TuneIn: "Play [station] on TuneIn."
• Play videos on YouTube using Chromecast: "Play on the [TV/Chromecast name]."
• Pull up lists on YouTube: "Let's look at what's trending on YouTube on [TV/Chromecast name]."
• Get it to sing: "Sing me a song" or "Sing me happy birthday."
Entertainment
• Sports: "OK Google, who is [team] playing next?" or "Did the [team] win last night?"
• Sports scores: "OK Google, what was the score for the last [team] game?"
• Team information: "OK Google, tell me about [team]."
• Films: "What movies came out last Friday?"
• Movie casts: "What actors are in You Can Count On Me?"
• Shows by network: "What shows are on HBO?"
• News: "What's today's news?"
• Games: "Let's play I'm feeling lucky" or "Let's play Madlibs" or "Let's play Crystal Ball" or "Can you tell me the future?" or "Let's play Rock Paper Scissors" or "Simon says."
• Poetry and stories: "Read a poem" or "Tell me a story" or "Tell me a scary story"
• Jokes: "Tell me a joke" or "Tell me another one" or "Tell me a prank" or "Tell me a knock knock joke."
Services
Uber: "Order an Uber."
Shopping : limited
Smart Home Devices: Nest
• "What's the temperature inside?"
• "Make it warmer."
• "Make it cooler."
• "Set the temperature to 68 degrees."
• "Raise the temperature 4 degrees."
Smart Home Devices: Samsung SmartThings / Philips Hue
• "Turn on [light name]."
• "Dim the [light name]."
• "Brighten the [light name]"
• "Set [light name] to 50 percent."
• "Dim/Brighten [light name] by 50 percent."
• "Turn [light name] green."
• "Turn on/off lights in [room name]."
• "Turn on/off all of the lights."
A Few Easter Eggs To Try
Here's a list of totally irrelevant and useless commands that you should still try, for comedy's sake. Prefix each one with "Hey Google."
• "Always be closing."
• "What is your quest?"
• "I am your father."
• "Set phasers to kill."
• "Are you SkyNet?"
• "Make me a sandwich."
• "Up up down down left right left right B A Start."
• "Do a barrel roll."
• "It's my birthday."
• "It's not my birthday."
• "Did you fart?"
