Many people use the Google Assistant from Google as a practical everyday companion. It can be used to conveniently call up information from the Internet, control smart home devices or play your favorite music using voice commands or text input.
- The Google Assistant makes everyday life easier for the user by operating smart devices on command and making certain settings
- It works on devices with the Android or iOS operating system, for example on smartphones and watches
- Google is constantly expanding the functions of the Google Assistant
What is the Google Assistant?
What started as Google Now in 2012 has been the Google Assistant since 2016. It is an electronic assistant that carries out written or oral commands from the user. Over time, the Google Assistant becomes more and more intelligent, because it creates a personal user profile based on search queries. The Google Assistant then makes new inquiries in the context of existing information. After a while, he will be able to carry out more complex searches.
The functions of the Google Assistant are diverse. To use it, the associated Google Assistant app only needs to be downloaded and installed from the Google Play Store (for Android devices) or the App Store (for iOS devices); then the Google Assistant can be used at any time from home or on the go. Among other things, you can do the following things on your smartphone:
- Write, read and send text messages
- Set up reminders
- Create tasks
- Set appointments and timers
- design the daily planning
- Get flight or train times
- check e-mails
- Play music through Google Play Music and YouTube
- View and take photos on the device
- Carry out real-time queries, for example weather reports, traffic reports, sports results or translations
- Control coupled devices such as thermostats, surveillance cameras, alarm systems, lamps
With Google smartphones or newer devices from other manufacturers on which Android is also installed, the Google Assistant is also able to make changes to the device settings. Google promises the user full control over what data he actually shares with the Google Assistant.
Other devices with the Google Assistant
There are also devices with an integrated Google Assistant, such as the smart speaker Google Home. To start the Google Assistant via voice control, the user only has to say “Ok Google” within loudspeaker range and he can give the system voice commands and receive a wide variety of information.
With Google Home it is possible to create timers, alarm clocks or to-do and shopping lists or to control other smart devices. Music streaming from Spotify, Deezer and other services is also possible.
Anyone who connects the Google Chromecast streaming device to the network can use the Google Assistant on their smartphone to transmit video streams from providers such as Netflix and Maxdome or from the media libraries of public TV channels directly to the television.
All owners of a smartwatch with the Google operating system can also access the Google Assistant. For many sports lovers, wearing wearables is part of everyday life. For example, if you want to use it to track your sports activities, get information about the weather, set reminders or receive data about your current location, you can do this easily using the assistant.
The most important Google Assistant commands at a glance
The Google Assistant understands a variety of voice commands. They all have one thing in common: the user must first either say “Ok Google” or start the assistant by pressing a button. Some of the most common voice commands are:
- “Game [name of a song / artist / music album / genre / mood].”
- “Pause the music.”
- “Resume playback.”
- “Next song.”
- “Play previous post.”
- “Please turn down the volume.”
- “Make it louder.”
- “Keep me informed of the latest news.”
- “Show [series / film].”
- “Put [required item] on my shopping list.”
How can I turn off the Google Assistant?
The voice control of the Google Assistant can easily be deactivated. This can be done in just a few steps:
- Start the Google Assistant by either pressing and holding the home button on your smartphone or tablet, or by opening the Google Assistant app.
- Touch the menu button and use it to open the wizard menu.
- Select “Settings”.
- There, select the device from the list on which you want to deactivate the Google Assistant.
- Deactivate the Google Assistant by tapping the slider.
If you do not want to remove the Google Assistant from your smartphone but no longer want to use the “OK Google” detection, you can only deactivate this and continue to use the assistant in other ways without any problems.
