There is a lot of talk about how nice the iPhone Siri voice assistant is, but not all Android users know that on their smartphone, be it Samsung, HTC, LG, Nexus or any other with Android version 4.1 and above, there is a very powerful voice command function to talk to your smartphone and make it do almost anything without having to use your hands . To use voice commands on Android you only need to have the latest updated version of the Google Search application installed.
Open it, scroll down, tap the button in the lower right corner and access the settings and check that Google Assistant (ex Google Now) is active
Then go to the voice section, activate the detection Ok Google and activate the voice recognition offline in Italian.
At this point, if the smartphone is connected to the internet and the screen is on, it will suffice to say, remaining on the initial screen, the words " Ok Google " to put the phone on listening and ready to receive a voice command.
If it doesn't work automatically, just install and use the Google Now or Nova Launcher, the best among Android launchers or install Open Mic to activate Ok Google on every Android smartphone.
Google Assistant is, in fact, Android's voice search which, however, does not only work to search for information on Google, but also within the phone.
Google Assistant works well and is very powerful, but requires some initial training to learn the commands and refine the voice reception of the smartphone.
READ ALSO: Activate Ok Google on Android by speaking in Italian
1) Make him receive any word
Google has a default protection for offensive words, which is rather useless in this case, because even words that look like bad words are blocked.
Then go to the settings of the Google assistant and, in the Voice section, remove the cross on the block of offensive words.
2) Use the functions of the mobile phone without hands
The Google Search mobile app allows you to make phone calls, send SMS and emails using only your voice.
So, you can say " Call Dad " to call.
Google, however, is not yet so intelligent to understand who Dad is if contact is not indicated.
Therefore, the first few times you talk to your smartphone, you need to associate names, nicknames and relatives with the contacts in your address book.
It should be noted, however, that the address book used by Google Now is not that of the phone but that of Google, therefore, if not present, the phone number must also be added to the Google address book.
You can also specify to use the number " at home " or " on a cell phone " or " at work ".
This feature also requires you to allow Google to search for contacts.
To do this, go to Google Now settings > Search and check the " Contacts " box.
To make associations you can also go to the address book application, edit a contact and create a new field in the tab to add a nickname.
The voice commands are Call ..., Send a message to ... [text], Send an email to ... [subject] [text], Find the number of ...
READ ALSO: Dictate and send SMS messages by voice from Android
3) Reminders, alarms and events in the calendar.
Reminders allow you to receive notifications and warnings based on where you are or on a set time or day.
The command to say on Android is Remind me of ... [today or tomorrow] at ... for reminders, Set alarm / alarm / timer for ... to create an alarm alarm, add [event name] Tuesday at 9 to add an event to the calendar Google which is synchronized with Gmail and the computer.
4) Weather
Just say, after Ok Google, Today it rains to know the weather forecast or the weather in [city] to know the weather in another place.
5) Street navigator
Ok Google and the use of the cell phone without hands is useful especially when you are in the car.
When you have to open the satellite navigator for the step by step directions of Google Maps, instead of stopping and writing, take the smartphone in your hand, say Ok Google and then one of these phrases to immediately open Google Maps with the navigator: Go to [name street or city name] (you can also add " on foot " or " by public transport ), Navigate to ..., Take me to [place name], How to arrive on foot aa ..., Find ..., Where is it. .. closer, Traffic [city name], Distance from ..., Flights [from to]
You can also just say the name of a place, without necessarily indicating the street, which is automatically recognized based on the Places of Interest of Google Maps.
6) Ask questions
Google answers questions asked verbally using information from its search engine.
For example, questions such as what is the capital ..., definition of ..., what does it mean ..., how old is it ..., how high is the mountain ..., the answer is given.
Just say the name of a famous person, a geography or history name to see the Wikipedia scehda.
You can also ask what time it is to know the time or " what time it is in [city] to know the time of each place.
Google Now also lets you know sports results on the fly by asking " [team name] won today .
7) Recognition of songs
If you want to know the title and author of a song, you can say Ok Google and, without speaking, let the smartphone listen to the music.
The icon of a musical note will appear to be touched to start the recognition of the piece of music.
8) Translator
After starting Ok Google, you can say verbally: how do you say [word] in German to immediately see the translation provided by the Google translate service.
From the translator tab, you can also tap the button to hear the pronunciation of that word.
This becomes absolutely convenient when going abroad to ask for information.
9) Launch App
Just say the name of an application to launch it, without having to look for it in the list of Android apps, quickly and directly.
10) Add commands to activate and deactivate wifi, gps, bluetooth, volume and other functions .
Google Now does not support, by default, the commands to activate the internal functions of the Android smartphone.
Thanks to a free application called Commandr it is possible to add voice commands, to say after Ok Google, to activate and deactivate the torch, wifi, gps, bluetooth, music, data connection, volume, rotation.
