Fancy new options are fan-frickin’-tastic. But let’s face it: We aren’t all carrying Google’s shiny new Pixel telephones. And we do not all have Android 12 in entrance of our shiny faces simply but.With all of that in thoughts, I believed now can be a wonderful time to show our consideration to a few of Android’s many buried treasures — phenomenal time-saving and productivity-boosting prospects constructed proper into the software program on our current telephones, regardless of who made ’em or how previous they might be (inside the realm of cause, anyway; in the event you’re nonetheless totin’ round a telephone with Froyo, sorry pal, however you are by yourself).Specifically, I wish to suppose our method by some extremely helpful superior options linked to Google Assistant — the pleasant if generally barely sassy digital companion that is at all times standing by and able to lend a serving to hand (and/or voice).The better part about these Assistant-associated gems is that they are each bit as helpful with a three-year-old LG jalopy as they’re with a high-end 2021 flagship. But since Assistant instructions are inherently invisible, they’re all too straightforward to miss or overlook.So with out additional ado, I offer you 11 superior Google Assistant instructions it is best to actually keep in mind to make use of on Android — it doesn’t matter what Android telephone you are carrying or which Android model it is working.[Want even more advanced Android knowledge? Check out my free Android Shortcut Supercourse to learn tons of time-saving tricks for your phone.]Google Assistant Android trick No. 1: The voice in your headThis first Google Assistant trick for Android is considered one of my all-time favorites. It’s considered one of Assistant’s most sensible and spectacular powers — and but, hardly anybody appears to appreciate it is out there.Once you recognize it is there, although, good golly, will you be giddy. So right here it’s: Anytime you are viewing an article inside Chrome, the Google app, or the Google News app in your Android telephone, you’ll be able to summon Assistant — by saying “Hey Google” or utilizing no matter technique you want — after which say one of many following instructions:Read this web page
Read it
Read this
Read aloud
Or Read this please (if you wish to be extra-polite)
However you phrase it, Assistant will merrily oblige and begin studying the article on the display out loud to you. It’s an superior solution to compensate for Very Interesting Content™ while driving, strolling, horsey chasing, or no matter it’s you stand up to.And the expertise is definitely fairly pretty: Just like in the event you had been listening to a conventional podcast, you’ll be able to skip round within the audio and alter the playback pace through a bar on the backside of your display. You may even management the playback with a panel that’ll pop up in your notification panel anytime the audio is taking part in.JR The solely necessities are that you just’re working 2014 Android 5.0 launch or greater (and in the event you aren’t, we have larger fish to fry) and that you’ve Assistant’s language set to English.Google Assistant Android trick No. 2: Power statusWondering how your telephone’s battery is doing towards the top of a protracted day? Maybe one stuffed with a lot horsey chasing? No drawback: Just ask your Android-dwelling Assistant What’s my battery degree, and you will have the reply in half a hoofbeat.What makes this command particularly helpful is the truth that it will additionally work from an Assistant-connected speaker or Smart Display, so even when your telephone is not proper there with you, you’ll be able to nonetheless ask Google how a lot energy it has left.In that occasion, simply remember to add an additional little bit of specificity into your command, with What’s my telephone’s battery degree as your spoken request. Assistant will rattle again the precise remaining share, regardless of the place your telephone could bodily be.Google Assistant Android trick No. 3: The prompt telephone finderNext, let’s step again a bit from there and get to an much more primary however nonetheless oft-relevant request: When you’ll be able to’t discover your telephone in any respect, keep in mind the Google Assistant command Where is my telephone as your one-stop phone-finding resolution.This one works on a pair totally different ranges:If you will have a number of Android units linked to the identical Google account — say, a piece telephone and a private telephone — you can provide this command to any a type of gizmos and have it return outcomes for the others.
No matter what number of Android units you’ve got received in your account, you can provide the command to an Assistant-connected speaker or Smart Display or perhaps a present Chromebook, as long as you are signed into the identical Google account on that gadget.
Whichever method you go, Assistant will supply up the lacking telephone’s final recognized location and likewise supply to ring it for you.JR Google Assistant Android trick No. 4: The swift shusherAnother helpful possibility from the telephone management file is Assistant’s capability to silence your gadget on demand at any time when the necessity arises.It could seem apparent, but it surely’s straightforward to overlook: A fast uttering of Silence my telephone will trigger Assistant to show your gadget’s garsh-dang quantity all the best way all the way down to keep away from any interruptions.And identical to our final two instructions, this one will work in your precise Android gadget or on any Assistant-connected speaker, Smart Display, or Chromebook the place you are signed into the identical account.Just keep in mind to say thanks if you’re achieved.Google Assistant Android trick No. 5: Location dictationAll proper — we have lined what to do if you cannot discover your telephone. But what in case you have your telephone and but nonetheless do not know the place you’re?First issues first, strive slicing again on the peyote, pal. And if that does not work, say Where am I to your pleasant neighborhood Assistant. That’ll trigger it to pop up a map exhibiting you your individual present location at that very second.On a associated notice, you’ll be able to ask Assistant to Share my location to drag up a easy interface for sending your present whereabouts to anybody you want — a co-worker who’s supposed to fulfill you at a consumer’s workplace, an jolly ol’ chap who cannot keep in mind the restaurant you agreed upon for lunch, or perhaps a horsey you had been chasing who received away and desires to re-engage you within the timeless artwork of leisure gallop.JR Google Assistant Android trick No. 6: Your screenshot genieAndroid lets you snag screenshots with quite a lot of mechanisms, each on-screen and physical-button-based, however these instructions aren’t at all times handy. Sometimes, you want a screenshot saved when you do not have a hand and/or hoof free for one cause or one other.In these moments, merely shout out to your Android Assistant after which say these magic phrases: Take screenshot. And that is it: Assistant will save a picture of no matter’s in your display at that second — no tapping, button-pressing, or annoyed fussing required.Google Assistant Android trick No. 7: Snappy picture snappingTaking an image sometimes takes each persistence and fingers — not less than, within the conventional methods of dealing with that job. When you must snap a photograph in your telephone with out all the standard necessities, maintain a few of these Assistant prospects on the entrance of your bustling mind:Take an image
Take a selfie
Take a video
And for the true Assistant-flexing energy, add in 10 seconds (or no matter period of time you want) to the top of any of these instructions. That’ll trigger Assistant to start out a countdown timer so you will have time to pose your squared-shaped head good and begin smiling all purty.Google Assistant Android trick No. 8: The sanity-saving noise-makerWhether you are again within the workplace and attempting to regulate to all of the office racket or working from house and attempting to tune out all of that racket, Assistant has a wonderful possibility that will help you focus.Let’s all say it collectively now: Play white noise.JR And if that ever is not slicing it for you, you’ve got received a bunch of different variations simply ready to be embraced:Play stress-free sounds
Play nature sounds
Play water sounds
Play working water sounds
Play babbling brook sounds
Play oscillating fan sounds
Play hearth sounds
Play forest sounds
Play nation night time sounds
Play ocean sounds
Play rain sounds
Play river sounds
Play thunderstorm sounds
Play thrashing dying steel sounds*
*Not really out there on Assistant but, however perhaps it ought to beGoogle Assistant Android trick No. 9: The settings shortcutAssistant’s received numerous choices, particularly in your telephone. But, somewhat paradoxically, attending to the Assistant settings on Android is not precisely intuitive. You’ve normally gotta undergo both the Google app or the Google Home app and wade your method by a number of murky menus to search out what you need.Well, this is the higher method: Holler at Assistant and say Assistant settings. Bam. Problem solved, seconds saved.Google Assistant Android trick No. 10: Auto-repeatIf Assistant ever says one thing you did not fairly catch, strive a variation of considered one of these little-known instructions:Can you repeat that extra slowly?
Can you repeat that extra loudly?
I did not hear you
You may additionally at all times simply squawk out a loud “HUH?!” in your finest old-fella-asking-you-to-speak-up impression — however odds are, Assistant will not acknowledge it.Google Assistant Android trick No. 11: The most helpful command of allWell, my pricey, there’s unhealthy information: We’ve practically reached the top of this Assistant Android assortment.But wait! There’s excellent news, too: We’ve saved the most effective for final.Assistant, y’see, is a beautiful digital creature. It will be fairly useful and infrequently even nice. But it additionally has a behavior of generally butting in and responding to one thing if you did not really need its involvement.The subsequent time Assistant begins flappin’ its digital yap out of line, simply keep in mind these 4 magical phrases:That wasn’t for you.Easy, proper? Now if solely we may discover a method for that to work on people, too.Get six full days of superior Android information with my new Android Shortcut Supercourse. You’ll study tons of time-saving methods to your telephone!
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