Google Home is now officially available for purchase at a price of $129, and if you’re among the group of consumers who either pre-ordered their unit or went out to one of the local participating retailers who will be carrying the smart home speaker and bought one on the spot, then chances are you’ve likely already set it up, or will be trying to do so very soon. While it’s common knowledge that you can issue the “Ok Google” command to fire up Google Home’s listening powers and get it to respond to your commands, it might not have been common knowledge for many that instead of saying Ok Google, you can simply say, “Hey Google.”
Google’s support page for Google Home is now live, and towards the top the Hey Google command is one of the first details that is highlighted. Of course, if you’ve seen the very first promotional ad for Google Home any number of times, which was the demo that was initially shown off during the Google I/O developer conference earlier this year, then you probably would have noticed that the people in the ad use the Hey Google command more than once to ask it a question or issue a task for completion. If you’re unsure about what you’re new Google Home speaker can do for you, you’re in luck as the Google Home Help page lists of a ton of different commands so you can be prepared to use the speaker to its full potential.
At the top of the list you’ll find straightforward and simple commands like Stop, which Google states can be used anytime, as well as other simple commands like Pause which can be used for times when you have music or podcasts playing through the speaker. There are tons of other commands too, like “When’s my first appointment tomorrow?” for helping you get a handle on your day in regards to planning things out, and there’s even a command for setting the kitchen timer which can be especially useful for anyone who tends to cook instead of eat out. To get started with using your Google Home speaker you will have to allow Google Assistant to detect the command, which means you’ll need to speak it, and is the same thing users will need to do when setting up Google Assistant on their new Pixel phones.