After debuting with Google Allo last month, Google Assistant is now also available within Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL flagships. With the upcoming launch of Google Home and considering the fact that Google already stated its virtual assistant will soon make its way to third-party devices, this is a perfect opportunity to go over some of the most useful commands which your latest digital companion understands.
The main purpose of an assistant is to help you be more productive and Google Assistant is quite capable of doing that. You can always tell it to set a reminder for any date and time and ask it about your schedule at any given moment. To do the latter, just ask it something along the lines of “what am I doing on Monday?” The assistant can also make a phone call for you, just make sure to clearly speak the name of your contact. On the other hand, there’s no need to go too slow if you’re reciting a specific phone number as Google Assistant understands spoken numbers rather well. You can also tell it to show emails to your humble self and even ask it to perform calculations by saying something along the lines of “square root of 300 multiplied by 50.” You can even tell the assistant to locate your package if your tracking information has already been sent to your Gmail account, just ask where’s my package and let your AI-powered helper do the rest.
Google Assistant is also a useful travel companion so don’t be shy if you want to ask it about things like the weather in London or distance between Paris and Rome. You can even tell it to show you your flights and convert currencies. Once you’ve traveled for a bit and have several Google Photos albums taken at different locations, Google Assistant will also comply with commands like “show me my photos of Seattle.” If you’re not interested in looking at your albums and just want to stay informed, you can easily order your helper to show US election news, news from Europe, or anything along those lines and you’ll be presented with latest relevant headlines.
With that said, Google Assistant isn’t just focused on productivity as it’s quite capable of entertaining you in various ways. You can tell it to open Spotify, recite a poem, or tell a joke and it will be happy to comply. Looking to put on some music? No problem, just specify which music after you tell Google Assistant to play some. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can also ask for a random fact and even command the assistant to send you fun facts on a daily basis. Google’s AI-powered helper also features a bunch of games so order the assistant to play a game and just take your pick if you’re in the mood. If you’re an outgoing person and want to have some fun outside of your house, asking Google Assistant to show nearby bars or anything of the sort will present you with a list of establishments in the vicinity you’re interested in. Last but not least, your companion is also aware of cinema schedules so inquiring about movies currently showing will give you a customized list of local movie theater programs.