Google Assistant Routines can be a pretty useful part of the Assistant. Instead of telling the Assistant multiple commands, you can give it one command it’ll do multiple things, like a routine. Hence the name. It’s one of those features though, that not a whole lot of people actually know about. So we’re going to walk you through how to set up a routine on Google Assistant.
How To Set Up A Routine
First things first, you’re going to want to download the Google Home app.
After you have downloaded the Google Home app and signed in, tap on the profile icon. It’s on the far right side, at the bottom of the screen.
Next tap on Settings.
Tap on Assistant – or swipe right to left to Assistant.
Now tap on Routines. It’ll be sixth item down in the list.
Google does give you a few routines to get you started and give you an idea of what to do. But you can create a new one. Do this by hitting the + button in the lower right corner.
You can start off by telling the Assistant the command you will give it, and you can also set it for a certain time of day.
Afterwards, you’ll add actions for your Assistant to do. This can be things like telling you the weather, the traffic on your commute, the news and much more.
If you opt to give it some smart home products to control in this routine, you will need to select which one. For example, if you want the lights to turn on, you’ll need to select which lights you want the Google Assistant to control in this routine.
Finally, you can set it to play music, radio, or the news at the end.
After that, just hit the checkmark in the upper right-hand corner. And you’re all set.
How To Customize A Ready-Made Routine
As mentioned, Google does have a few Ready-Made routines available as well, and these can be customized from what Google has already provided. The most common one is the “Google Morning” routine.
Just tap on the routine, and that will open up the edit screen.
From there you can adjust the command(s) that you would give to the Assistant. You can also adjust the actions, as well as rearranging the order. And of course, you can adjust what plays afterwards.
Some Things To Be Aware Of
With Routines for the Google Assistant, you can do just about anything you want. The only real limit is your imagination. But there are a few things that you should be aware of. For instance, if you set Google Assistant to play music in your routine, it can only use your default music provider. And with Google Play Music, it can’t shuffle by default.
Another issue is some lights won’t work perfectly with the routine. For instance if you want to dim the lights, not all of them will work. This will largely depend on the brand of smart lights you are using though.
Wrap Up
Routines for Google Assistant can be very useful, especially if you use a number of commands right after each other in a…well, a routine. For instance, if you use the Google Assistant to wake you up in the morning then turn on the lights, and read you the news, a “Good morning” routine could do all of that in a single command. Making things much easier.
These routines will work on all Google Assistant-enabled smart displays, smart speakers and smartphones.