I can do this already. 17 new features you can ask the Google Assistant

It's just a waste of time.

The Google Assistant was born in 2016, so I think its features are well known. Setting alarms and timers, calculating, and looking up the meaning of words are classic things that you can do for a long time, but the Google Assistant's capabilities are constantly expanding, and some may not be known yet.

Let's take a look at such new features below. Please read while thinking that "OK Google" is added before each command.

1. Take a screenshot

This is for Android devices only, but you can quickly save the screen just by saying "Take a screenshot". On the iPhone and other platforms, this is not possible (for now).

2. Listen to the podcast

Like other companies, Google is working hard to support podcasts. You can listen to any podcast by specifying "Listen to the latest episode of XX" (where XX is the podcast program name).

3. Find a photo

This is a feature on the Pixel, but if you say "Show me a photo of New York" to the Google Assistant with Google Photos open, it will search for the photo of New York in Google Photos, not the entire web. Will do it. After that, you can narrow down the photos as if they were taken at Central Park.

4. Track exercise

Wear OS may not be that popular among smartwatch platforms, but the Google Assistant is well-incorporated. You can start recording your exercise with just voice commands such as "Record your run" or "Start cycling" without touching your smartwatch.

5. Watch TV

You can watch Netflix and YouTube movies, TV shows, and various videos using the Google Assistant. Just say the content name and app name you want to see, like "Play'Friends' on Netflix". This feature works on Android TV, Chromecast, Android smartphones and tablets.

6. Find your smartphone

This is a trick that can be used with Google Assistant-equipped smart speakers and smart displays (like Google Nest Hub). If you say "Look for a smartphone" to the Google Assistant on the smart device side, it will sound even if the smartphone side is in silent mode. However, the smartphone must be Android and logged in to the same Google account as the speaker / display.

7. Operation of third party apps

With the Google Assistant, you can now operate not only genuine Android apps but also various third-party apps such as Instagram, Outlook, Spotify, Mint, and Discord. You can also use commands like "search for candles on Etsy" or "send money in Venmo". If you command "Show me the shortcut", it will list the ones that can use this function based on the installed application. However, it seems that the function is limited to English at present because it could be reproduced after changing to English.)

8. Read aloud web articles

Again, the Google Assistant must have English settings, an Android smartphone, and Google Chrome, but if you say "Read it" to the Google Assistant with the web page open, the text on the page will be read aloud. ..

By the way, if you have an Android smartphone, you can use the reading function from the humanoid icon at the bottom right of the screen by turning on "Select and read aloud" in the "Accessibility" menu even for apps other than Chrome in Japanese settings. ..

9. Camera self-timer set

When you take a picture with your Android smartphone, you can use commands such as "Take a picture in 5 seconds" and "Take a selfie in 10 seconds".

10. Remember anything

Google's memory can be a nuisance in terms of privacy, but it's nice to have people remember what's where. Just tell the Google Assistant, "Remember that the spare key is on the bookshelf," and you'll be told later when you ask, "What do you remember?" You can record not only the place to put things, but also the things your friends wanted, the places you wanted to go, and so on.

By the way, when the translator confirmed, it didn't work as intended when I said "" to "on the bookshelf" instead of "to" on the bookshelf, so I remembered that the command was "remember". Let's keep it.

11. Listen to the sounds of animals

Not only is the Google Assistant useful, but it also has a huge amount of educational content for children. You can ask "What is the elephant's bark?", Or just say "animal bark" and it will reproduce the appropriate animal voice.

12. Set sleep timer for music playback

With the Google Assistant on Google Nest and Google Home, you can play music and set a timer, but you can also combine the two. For example, if you say "Turn off music after ○ minutes" when you go to bed, you can stop playing after the specified time.

13. Broadcast to multiple speakers

If you have multiple Google Nest or Google Homes, you can send a message to all of them at the same time. All you have to do is say "Broadcast XX," (XX is the message content). In Japanese, you can use "call", "tell everyone", and "tell everyone" instead of "broadcast".

14. Both coins and dice are thrown

What you can do with Google Search can also be done with the Google Assistant. If you say "throw a coin" or "roll a dice", they will respond with an animation of the coin or dice.

15. Create / edit list

The memory of the Google Assistant is also useful for list management. For example, if you want to keep a record of what you have to buy, you can manage it with commands such as "Add a garbage bag to your shopping list" or "What's on your shopping list?".

16. Delete the recorded voice

The voice data recorded by the Google Assistant can also be deleted from the Google account page on the Web, but even with the Google Assistant, you can delete it by saying "Delete last conversation".

17. Put your smartphone in silent mode

Again, this is only when the Google Assistant is set to English, but you can put your phone into silent mode from Google Nest or Google Home. Speaking of "Silence my phone" and "Turn on Do Not Disturb on my phone" (the my phone part can be a model name such as "my Pixel 4a") is OK. Conversely, you can also make the speaker silent from the Google Assistant on your smartphone.

That's the new and useful Google Assistant feature. Overall, things like English only and Pixel only are conspicuous, but let's expect that the number of things that can be used regardless of the environment will increase.