What clever thing do you use your Google/Alexa for?

jellykingdom on 20/12/2020 - 11:23
Last edited 20/12/2020 - 13:14 by 1 other user

I have a couple of Google Home devices and to be honest, I don't really get much value of them, except for some general basic things

  • setting timers, alarms etc, mostly for cooking
  • find the weather or the time
  • turn on/off TV when we need to distract our daughter at meal times
  • we've found it does animal noises, which is great when we're reading picture books to her
  • music (tho it isn't amazing at it cos we don't have any premium music accounts)

But I certainly wouldn't say that overall it is an invaluable addition to my home…

What do other people use their Smart home devices for, that other people might not know about, or might find interesting?

Electrical & Electronics Google Smart Display Voice Assistant

Comments

  • elgrande on 20/12/2020 - 12:10
    +4

    Spelling words

    • Forkinhell on 21/12/2020 - 09:45
      +2

      I use mine for a paper-weight.
      With the windows open, it gets a bit breezy indoors.

      I certainly wouldn't turn it on, because I don't want to broadcast to the world the events of our household.

      Just telling it to turn off is not effective.

  • helpdesk on 20/12/2020 - 12:19
    +1

    Have it set to turn on coffee machine before we get up, that's the most useful thing I use mine for.

  • loulou1 on 20/12/2020 - 12:36
    +1

    I have a child, whenever they start asking me a billion questions I tell them to ask google. She learns stuff and I get some much needed ‘space’ to get things done

  • Antares on 20/12/2020 - 12:39
    +6

    I like using mine for white noise + sleep timer when going to sleep.
    Can play rain, or thunderstorms, etc. Then set a sleep timer for 1hr so it switches off after I fall asleep.

    I also use it for my alarm to wake up in the morning.

    • jellykingdom on 20/12/2020 - 13:21
      +1

      Actually yeah we use that too but the damn thing resets every 1hr and the sudden loss of white noise used to wake up the baby. So she's got her own white noise speaker, and we use the Google Home

  • trankillity on 20/12/2020 - 13:03
    +5

    My two most useful ones are pretty simple ones.

    REMINDERS
    Having a phone linked to Google is super handy. I use Assistant to set reminders to do things on certain days, or at certain times. Because it's all synced with my Google account, these reminders transfer seamlessly to my phone too. Some examples:

    • Remind me when I get to work to charge my headphones
    • Remind me on 20th January to cancel my Binge subscription
    • Remind me in 30 minutes to hang up the washing

    SHOPPING LISTS
    This has honestly been the biggest game changer for us. Having a Google Home device in/near the kitchen means that as soon as you run out of something, all you need to do is a simple "Hey Google, add cheese to the shopping list". If you have Continued Conversations turned on, you can then go "Add milk to the shopping list" without needing the "Hey Google". After that point, Google asks "Anything else?" and you can just rattle stuff off one at a time to add it all to the shopping list. We use Bring! for our shopping list app and it syncs easily.

    MORE ADVANCED STUFF
    I run Home Assistant for my full automation setup. This allows me to do a lot more advanced stuff with Google such as: See the full status of all smart devices in my home, including any doors or windows that are open and what AC units are on, send text-based commands to Google for it to respond on a specific device, use text-to-speech in order to announce when certain events happen, etc.

    • kerfuffle on 20/12/2020 - 15:50

      Remind me when I get to work to charge my headphones

      Only when location based reminders actually work; they don't for my phone (they used to) and short of a hard reset, I can't figure out how to fix it

      • trankillity on 21/12/2020 - 10:02

        I've definitely had some issues with this of late, which has been very annoying!

        Likewise delayed notifications from some apps which really shouldn't be delayed.

    • Bluey123 on 20/12/2020 - 18:05
      +1

      Where does your reminder list go to when you ask Google? I can't seem to find the app for list of reminders

      • kerfuffle on 20/12/2020 - 20:07

        To Google, or in your Google Calendar. If you Google 'reminders', you can see them there, or just ask Google 'Hey Google, show me my reminders'

      • Droz on 21/12/2020 - 18:52

        I thought it went to Keep, but it doesn't…

        You can manage your reminders in the Google Assistant settings.

        On your Android phone or tablet, say "Hey Google, open Assistant settings" or go to Assistant settings.
        Under "All settings," tap Reminders.
        Tap a reminder and then Edit Edit.
        Enter the reminder details.

    • particle on 21/12/2020 - 07:46

       "Hey Google, add cheese to the shopping list". If you have Continued Conversations turned on, you can then go "Add milk to the shopping list" without needing the "Hey Google"

      That second command could be shortened again to "Also add milk", since Google already knows you're dealing with your shopping list of from your first command.

      The same applies if you asked Google about the weather at a location on a particular day, and then want to know the weather there the next day, etc.

      • Waltervp on 21/12/2020 - 10:42

        Is it easy to share the shopping list with others?
        I love the 'our groceries' app, when in shops both of us can cross things off as we shop.
        Also worth my google home or created different lists for my partner, on her google account…

        • squash on 21/12/2020 - 10:54

          you can share the list in google keep

    • HandsomeSquidward on 21/12/2020 - 12:45

      Do you have a preferred brand of door/contact sensors, how to control AC units etc? I'm a real beginner at this and only have Tuya wifi light bulbs and plugs but am interested in expanding more (but will never have the coding know-how to be able to use HA).

      • trankillity on 21/12/2020 - 14:29
        +2

        There's no system for contact sensors that I would call "easy enough" to use without knowing a fair bit/getting into some manual coding. That being said, HA is much easier to use these days than it used to be, with most things achievable through the UI. You just need to be able to dedicate some time to learning how stuff works.

        For AC unit control, there's plenty of options there. One of the best is Sensibo, as it will not only control your ACs remotely, but it will read your AC remote control's commands and update the ACs state/settings withing Google Home/other smart home ecosystems when you turn it on with your remote rather than your voice/app.

  • knasty on 20/12/2020 - 13:11

    Kids use google with coloured smart bulbs to create party modes in the bedroom.

  • Suzique on 20/12/2020 - 13:48
    +9

    Hey Google…..Find my phone! Very useful.

    • jellykingdom on 20/12/2020 - 15:16

      Wait…how does that work???

      • iridiumstem on 20/12/2020 - 15:33
        +1

        When you say "Hey google, find my phone", the phone/tablet starts ringing. I think it is using the feature that's already on your Android devices (https://www.google.com/android/find). Not completely sure.

        I think it's clever in that when I ask "Find my phone", it always tries to locate my phone, not my tablet or my spare (that I have because I broke one and got it fixed, kept it just in case my main one dies).

        • jellykingdom on 20/12/2020 - 19:55

          I tried it. Works great!!!!!!

          • iridiumstem on 20/12/2020 - 19:57

            @jellykingdom: It's amazing! And it works for your family members too (my wife also frequently looks for her phone as well).

            You might have to set it up for it to do that (it's been awhile since I've set mine up, so I forgot), but it has saved me from a lot of stress.

        • bobbified on 20/12/2020 - 19:57

          Cool thanks! I learnt something new today! :)

  • Ryanek on 20/12/2020 - 14:07
    +3

    I've written an app to scrape shopping websites for certain products. It will alert me on Alexa if it comes in stock.

    • elgrande on 20/12/2020 - 15:00
      -1

      Ps5?

      • Ryanek on 20/12/2020 - 15:03
        +1

        RTX 3080

  • No Username on 20/12/2020 - 14:20

    Weather
    Stocks
    Finding keys and wallet
    CCTV
    Motion Alerts
    Lights
    Locking and Unlocking door.

  • iridiumstem on 20/12/2020 - 15:32

    Timer and finding my phone because I always forget where I have put my devices.

  • Hellcrusher3304 on 20/12/2020 - 15:34
    +3

    Hey Google, execute order 66!

  • spackbace on 20/12/2020 - 18:01
    +2

    Hey Google, tell me about my day

    While having my morning coffee

  • lainey13 on 20/12/2020 - 22:47
    +2

    Broadcast a message so I don't have to yell up the stairs :)

  • MisplacedGaijin on 21/12/2020 - 07:31
    +1

    So is Hey Google / Alexa etc a solution to a problem or a product looking for a market ?

  • penting on 21/12/2020 - 10:37

    Few things that i did with my place
    Turning kettle on
    Turning off and on my oil heater
    Some lights automation when my arlo camera detect motion at night time
    Certain command turn all my smart light off and on

    Looking to add door sensor in the future and smart garage opener.

  • OzHunterNSW on 21/12/2020 - 10:47

    Your entire living habits are recorded

    • squash on 21/12/2020 - 10:56

      i downloaded all the audio mine had recorded, mostly extremely shitty recordings of me saying "ok google set a timer for 15 minutes". compelling stuff. i hope my grandchildren will listen some day

  • afah0447 on 21/12/2020 - 12:25

    Allowing Google to record my every conversation so they can profit off it.

  • Tigercjn on 21/12/2020 - 16:27

    Kitchen timers, you can set many.

  • boomramada on 21/12/2020 - 16:58

    Ok google sexy time, then turn on the rgb lights and play some music ;)

    • spackbace on 21/12/2020 - 21:24
      +1

      But do you even make it through a full song? 😛

  • Jared17 on 26/12/2020 - 21:25

    Interesting thing that I discovered after getting
    an older version of Alexa when they had that deal to go along with my old version of Google home.

    I wanted to see how accurate their weather reporting is from both so as I was looking over my window with rain pouring down I asked Google is it raining now? It's says likely will rain tonite. Lol.

    Then I asked Alexa and it says it's currently raining now. It surprised me cuz I would have thought Google would be more accurate. From then on if I am asking for weather forecast I only ask Alexa.

    • spackbace on 26/12/2020 - 23:23

      Hmm according to a quick google, they both use Accuweather.

  • txchou on 30/03/2021 - 14:32

    I've set mine to chime every hour (during daylight hours) to say the temperature or weather. So it works like a cuckoo clock. Pretty helpful actually.

  • txchou on 30/03/2021 - 14:35

    I've set the Home Hub to play the YouTube live channel for ABC News 24 at breakfast and dinner for a set time. And it plays the local news podcast at lunch time.

    Useful and informative!

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join