8 things Google Assistant can do for you

| Published: Saturday, May 19, 2018, 13:13 [IST]

Google Assistant, which used to be limited to Google devices like Google Home or Pixel phones is available in a wide range of handsets now. Saying 'Ok Google’ or long-pressing the home button will launch the Google Assistant, you can ask the Google Assistant to perform basic functions like making phone calls, send text messages, set alarms and so forth.

8 things Google Assistant can do for you

In addition to this, Google Assistant can also do a wide variety of other functions as well. While some of the more obvious things that Google Assistant can do need not be explained. Given below are 8 interesting things that Google Assistant can do:

Read out the news for you

If you ask Google Assistant to "Play the news" after activating it by long pressing the home button, it will start reading out the news to you. This is not just simple text-to-speech conversion, you can actually listen to the news.

You can switch news sources and control the playback by saying terms like "Next," or "Pause" or "Stop." You can also play the news from a single source of your choice by asking Google Assistant to play the news from that particular news source.

To set particular news sources, you can open Google Assistant, tap on Settings and then select News. You will be able to select your news sources like NDTV, Times of India and India Today. There are a ton of news sources out there that have spoken coverage of news which you can listen to.

Remind you about things

In addition to setting alarms and adding reminders, you also have the option of making Google Assistant have reminders that are location based.

Simple things like "Remember to turn off the AC" can be set which will prompt the Assistant to do so as you leave a building.

Translate things

Google Assistant works in conjunction with Google Translate to translate not just words, but entire sentences into the language of your choice. The translated word or phrase will be shown on screen and will also be read out at the same time.

You can use it as a converter

Measurements and currency units can be converted in a few seconds, all you have to do is ask them for it. You can ask Assistant to convert a certain amount of currency from unit to another or ask what time it will be in one place when it's a particular time in another location.

Navigation and traffic updates

Real-time navigation which is aided by live traffic updates ensures that the amount of traffic in a certain location is taken into account for determining how much time it will take to travel to the target location. The live updates will ensure that you aren't stuck in traffic jams.

Play music and videos

You can play Music through Google Play Music or YouTube using the Assistant. You can also tweak third-party apps like Saavn and Gaana to play music for you as well. You need to head over to settings, then select Music, and finally, you need to pick your default provider.

You can also turn the volume up or play the next track by telling it to do so.

Find places to eat, drink or shop.

Asking Google Assistant to "Find nearby restaurants" or "Find nearby stores" will show you a list of the places along with their star ratings.

Make a shopping list.

You can add things to your list by saying "Add (this) to your shopping list" which will add the item to the shopping list in your Google Keep or to the online Google Shopping list that you have. You can review the items in your list by saying "What's on my shopping list?"