From those early days in the form of Google Now to a future seasoned by Gemini’s artificial intelligence that needs more than just breathing, Google’s Assistant has been on Android phones since around 2017, when we We were able to get our hands on it in Spanish. Over that time, I’ve used Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and of course Google Assistant extensively, both on my Android phones and Google Home speakers, and my experience can be summed up in one thing: all assistants, including Google’s, need to improve.
So I’m looking forward to the arrival of Gemini, which will allow me to speak in a more natural and human way and for the assistant to understand me and act accordingly. Because the gift with a voice assistant on a cell phone looked very good, but in practice it can be summed up like this: I literally use Google Assistant for five things on my phone.. It’s not that we can’t do more, it’s that these are the ones that are worth it and don’t cause me any problems.
In this article you will find more than 100 commands that can be used with Google Assistant and which show huge potential. However, theory is one thing and practice is another. I’m a person who doesn’t have any physical difficulties that prevent me from handling the phone with my hand, so my usage scenario still takes that into account voice command takes less time than doing it myself with my fingers…or simply that your hands are not available, which happens from time to time. So tasks like asking you to open an app or turn up the volume are something I don’t normally do.
With Android Auto
this is the scope where I get the most out of it for two reasons: because the DGT fines you if it catches you with your hands on the vehicle’s infotainment system and secondly for a safety issue: it allows me to have my hands on the steering wheel, thus minimizing the risks.
Of course, I’ve already said that using Google Assistant on Android Auto is a bit complicated in that it can be critical to ask it to take you to a destination and it doesn’t do it on time or that he doesn’t understand you. , which requires you to do it manually. This is why, fundamentally I use it for basic, short and specific tasks, like asking me to skip songs, to call someone, to take me to a certain destination, or to know the weather in a certain place. Things like sending a WhatsApp can be frustrating for me.
Set a timer or alarm
Another great use of mine is in the kitchen, a place where I usually have busy or dirty hands, preventing me from touching the phone screen without smearing it or handling it directly. There it is a luxury for me when the water with the pasta starts to boil and I want to have it for the time specified by the manufacturer. Here, Google Assistant does not fail, since it is a simple and clear command, with little margin for error: set an alarm for seven minutes.
tell me the time
I have a weather app and I always have to resort to Google to type “weather + city + today”, but I’m very satisfied with the behavior of Google Assistant and its work as a meteorologist: a simple “what’s the weather going to be like today” is enough for it to tell me in great detail the temperatures, whether it’s going to be sunny or raining and any other warnings, something much more agile than scrolling through the app or searching via a web page. I can also do this while I do other tasks.
Ask someone to call
I insist on sending a WhatsApp: on paper, it works as follows: “Send a message [aplicación] A [nombre] and tell him that [mensaje]’. Ok, saying WhatsApp and making it understood is not a problem, but as soon as you start with the contacts and dictate the message, the task becomes long and full of mines, so if it’s something urgent I solve it in the following way: yes It’s not urgent, I hope to be able to do it manually later and if I’m in a hurry it’s much more efficient for me. ask Google Assistant to call this person.
Unexpected added bonus: currency conversion
During my trip to China a few months ago, I discovered another use for which Google Assistant works wonders and saves me time while traveling: currency conversion. Even though I knew the equivalence and had pretty good mental arithmetic, eventually for large quantities I started using the calculator, but Google Assistant has made conversion much faster and more comfortable.
Cover | Anna Martí for Xataka
In Xataka Android | The Gemini app for Android is here. So you can try Google’s most advanced AI on your mobile
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