Whether you have Google Assistant built into your Android phone, smart speaker, or your car, here are some of the best things it can do.
We all know that Amazon has its Alexa voice assistant. Apple has Siri. And, if you have an Android phone, a tablet or a Google Nest speaker (known before as Google Home), then Google Assistant is the powerful artificially-intelligent companion that lives in your home with you. There are so, so many things this smart voice-activated assistant can help you with that many users don’t even know what it’s capable of truly doing. This means, to ensure you’re getting the most from your trusty voice-activated partner, we’ve gathered together nine extremely useful, but not always obvious, Google Assistant features that will help you to make it genuinely useful in loads of situations you might not have expected. Drawing on the sheer breadth of information at Google’s search engine fingertips, it’s safe to say Google Assistant has a lot of potential uses, including the ability to find the best route to a certain location. Just say “Get me home” and it will draw information from Google Maps to show you (or tell you) the best route based on your current location. You can also use the voice-activated element to check traffic updates, and get the latest information on diversions and closures. This feature is especially useful if you primarily use Google Assistant on the move. Google Assistant has been designed to assist you, after all, so it makes sense that something as mundane (yet important) as making a shopping list can be done with your voice. No more scrabbling for a piece of paper (only to lose it) or typing one out in your drafts – you just need to say “Add [item] to my shopping list.” Not only does Google Assistant collate all those items into one place, it will even read back what’s on your currently saved list to ensure you haven’t left anything out, enabling you to go about your day with one less thing to worry about. Most of us are so busy these days that even taking the time to browse the latest stories on Twitter or your chosen RSS feed can feel like a drag on your time. So why not use Google Assistant to read them out for you? It’s not an obvious feature, but if you say “Play the news” Assistant will start reading out stories from your preferred news sources.
