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These are our team member's favorite Google Assistant commands

Some of the best commands are the ones you may not know about yet.
By
December 25, 2022
A Google Pixel Watch displays the Google Assistant.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority

Like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s AI-powered voice assistant has been around for years. Allowing users to trigger apps, ask questions, make plans, carry out tasks, and more with the right voice commands. Also like Siri and Alexa, Google Assistant can provide a bit of humor, if you know what to ask it.

As a result, there are all kinds of voice commands you can lob at Google Assistant like “Hey Google, set an alarm for [time],” “Hey Google, remind me to [activity],” or even “Hey Google, wubba lubba dub dub.” With so many voice commands to choose from, of course, everybody is going to have their own favorite command.

Do you have a go-to voice command for Google Assistant? Our writers and editors sure do. In fact, we’ve put together a list of some of our own favorite voice commands you can also try on Google Assistant.

Jeopardy

One of our team’s favorite commands is “Hey Google, play Jeopardy.” When you say this phrase, Google allows you to play a game of Jeopardy with your voice. You can also choose the category you want which ranges from pop culture to world travel and everything in between.

White Noise

Find it difficult to sleep without some form of noise in the background? There’s a command for white noise and it’s one of our favorites. All you have to say is “Hey Google, play white noise.” There are also a handful of commands that can tell Google Assistant to play specific or unspecific ambient sounds like a crackling fireplace, a running stream, and more. Here are a few others you can use:

  • “Help me relax”
  • “Play ambient noise”
  • “Play fireplace sounds”
  • “Play river sounds”
  • “Play forest sounds”
  • “Play white noise”

Start Day

A few members of the Android Authority crew enjoy using the “good morning” command that’s activated when you say “Hey Google, good morning.” Essentially, it starts a routine that you can create on your own. For example, you could personalize your routine to have Google Assistant turn on lights, tell you the weather, turn on the coffee machine, etc.

Lenovo smart display with Google Assistant Ambient Mode on

Goofs and interactive prompts

If you’re in a lighthearted mood and want a quick chuckle, there are a variety of humorous questions you can ask. There are also several good interactive prompts. Some of our favorites include:

  • “What am I thinking right now?”
  • “Beatbox”
  • “May the force be with you”
  • “Up up down down left right left right B A start”
  • “Can you rap?”
  • “Tune my instrument”
  • “Crystal ball”
  • “Scare me”

Controlling the room temperature

Feeling a little too cold or hot, but don’t want to get up from your comfy spot? If it’s too much trouble to walk over to your thermostat, why not just let Google handle it for you? There are times when we don’t want to get up too, and that’s why another one of our favorite commands helps us control room temperature.

All we have to say is “Hey Google, set the thermostat at [X] degrees.” Google will set the temperature to the requested number and all we have to do is wait for your HVAC to kick in. If you’re just curious about the temperature in the room, you can also ask “Hey Google, what’s the room temperature?” Some thermostats also include humidity sensors, so you can ask “what’s the humidity in the room?”

Setting specific timers

One of the most commonly used commands for Google Assistant is “set timer for [time].” But did you know that you set a specific timer based on the food you’re cooking? One of our team members likes to use special food timers for a variety of meals including chicken, eggs, potatoes, and more.

To use this function, all you have to do is say “Hey Google, set a [name of food] timer for [time].” All of these come with special animations and sound effects that go off when the timer ends. For example, when you ask Google to set a timer for chicken, the alarm will be the sound of a chicken clucking.

In addition to all of these commands, our team also often uses the more common commands like “Turn on lights,” “Play [name of song],” and “Name that song.” If you haven’t tried these or any of the other commands we’ve mentioned, we recommend giving them a shot and seeing the results.

Are there any Google Assistant commands that you think should have made it onto this list? Let us know in the comments what your favorite voice commands are.