Google Home: 5 things you should ask your smart speaker

Your Google Home smart speaker can’t help at all, but there’s a good chance it’ll do a lot more than you think. Most people already know that you can ask him to play music, recite the weather or set a timer or alarm. But how about asking where you left your car keys? Or place an order at a nearby cafe? I bet you didn’t know that Google Home did that, too. Keep reading, because there is so much more to where it came from.

Unlike Amazon’s Alexa, you don’t need to download or install anything to add functions to Google Home. New features are added behind the scenes all the time, and generally all you need to do to use them is just to ask. (“Hey, Google, I need a recipe for sugary cookies”, for example.) Other tricks, including some of these tips, just require you to link an existing account to Google Home (which, as you will see soon, is very easy and quick to do).

So, wait until the end, because there is a good chance that Google Home is the one you should be asking yourself these five things it can answer for you.

Ask where your lost car keys are

There are two ways to have Google Home find your car keys, depending on whether you use a block tracker. Otherwise, the next time you put the keys in a drawer or anywhere you don’t normally hide them, just say, “Ok Google, remember that I put my keys under the kitchen sink [or wherever you put them]. “So the next time you can’t find them, say” OK, Google, where I put my keys “and Google Home will tell you.

If you have a block tracker on your key chain, even better. Google will be able to call you so that you can find it.

1 Open the Google Home appand tap + Register in the upper left corner and choose Configure device, then touch Works with Google.

two Touch magnifying glass in the upper right corner, type “Block” and tap the Tile logo that appears below the search bar.

3 – Log in to Tile as you would in a browser and follow the instructions on the screen.

Now you can say “Hey” or “OK, Google calls my keychain [or whatever you’ve named the Tile attached to your keys]. “The next thing you know, your keys will start to buzz. This trick works for anything you’ve plugged in a Tile tracker, like book bags, pets, whatever.

Order your favorite Starbucks drink with your voice

The next time you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to wait for your coffee order to be placed, hand your Starbucks order to Google Home and it will place it for you so you can pick it up when you’re ready. For this tip, you’ll want to link your Starbucks account, so you’ll need the Google Assistant app.

1 Open Google Assistant app and tap compass icon in the bottom right corner.

two Type “Starbucks” in the search bar and tap the Starbucks logo that appears below the search bar and tap Link, then touch Link accounts.

If you are not signed in to Starbucks on your phone, you will need to enter your username and password, but for most people, everything else should happen automatically. From there, just say “Hi” or “OK, Google, talk to Starbucks” and tell the virtual barista what you would like to order.

Google Home is a dictionary, thesaurus, calculator and more

The next time you’re watching TV and a character says a word you’ve never heard before (like “gasconading” or “coruscant”), don’t take a dictionary – ask Google Home what the word means. “Ok, Google, what is the definition of ‘anomalist’?” or “Hey, Google, what does ‘cupidity’ mean?” The same thing if you need a thesaurus, a translation or a word game help (check out our full article on all the cool things Google Home can do with languages ​​here).

Are you a genius with words, but not so much when it comes to math? Google Home is with you too. However, you can use Google Home as much more than a calculator – it can count days, weeks or years; convert units of measure; handle distances and many other calculations (see our full article on all the numbers that Google Home can calculate here).

Ask Google Home to read your horoscope

You don’t necessarily need to buy astrology to have fun listening to your horoscope. And if you don’t like the way Google Home reads the stars to you for the first time, it’s easy to try again with a different service. Just say, “Hey, Google, what’s my horoscope?” and will provide a list of horoscope providers from which he can obtain.

Arm yourself with dad’s jokes

You know what makes a pun a father joke, right? He’s a father. (Boooo.) As a dad who loves jokes, I’m always looking for the next big groan. You can ask, “Hey” or “Ok Google, tell dad a joke” to start, but for creme de la creme, say “Talk to dad’s best jokes”.

Google Home is full of all kinds of surprising hidden talents. On the one hand, it is a great game console, especially if you like RPG-style narrative adventures. Or try to schedule a command for the future using the new scheduling feature. Of course, for most people, no. One thing they do is listen to music, so be sure to set it up like that for the best experience.