Voice commands have increasingly become an integral part of modern smartphones, also given the continuous evolution of voice assistants based on artificial intelligence (now they speak in a very natural and convincing tone of voice, to the point that they can be mistaken for humans!). If we are new to the Android world and we want to immediately exploit the potential of Google's voice assistant, in this guide we will show you how to activate Ok Google on Android, so you can call up the assistant without using your hands, even in the case of a screen. locked and off.
In addition to activating the voice assistant, we will also show you how to memorize our voice (so that the assistant responds only to us) and the main commands that we can request from the assistant, so that you can start using it immediately.
READ ALSO: Google Assistant Settings (OK Google) on Android, iPhone and Home
How to activate Ok Google on Android
Google's voice assistant is provided on all Android smartphones that have a recent version of the operating system and the right app installed. The support is very wide, so it is extremely difficult to find a smartphone that does not support voice commands (if our smartphone is less than 5 years old, everything should work without problems).System requirements
To make Google voice commands work on Android, the following requirements are required on our smartphone:- Android version 5.0 or later
- At least 1.5 GB of RAM
- Screen resolution at least 720p
- Google app updated
- Wi-Fi Internet connection or fast data network (LTE or later)
If we notice problems accessing the voice assistant features (perhaps because in contrast to the native assistants offered by Samsung or other manufacturers), we can also install the specific Google Assistant app (complementary to the voice commands already present with the Google app ).
How to activate the voice assistant
After checking the requirements, in this chapter we will show you how to activate Ok Google on Android, so that you can start using the voice assistant.We open the Google app on our Android smartphone, press at the bottom right on the Other menu and finally press on the Settings menu. In the new screen we select the Voice menu, press on Voice Match and activate the button next to the item Log in with Voice Match .
The system will ask us to record our voice, so that we can unlock the controls only when we request it. Then press on Next, then on Accept and finally record the activation commands when required, speaking near the phone microphone.
Currently the voice assistant accepts two activation commands, "Ok Google" and "Hey Google": from time to time we can choose the one we think is most appropriate to pronounce, since both will activate the assistant to receive voice commands.
After completing the configuration of our voice model, click Finish .
NOTE : the phone's microphone will listen every time the screen is turned on or when the phone is charging; turning off the screen the activation commands will no longer be picked up and we will not be able to use voice commands.
How to use the voice assistant even with the screen off
To use the phone's voice commands even with the screen off, when we have our hands busy doing other things, all we have to do is open the Google app again, go to Other -> Settings -> Voice -> Voice Match and also activate the Unlock voice with Voice Match .Unfortunately, this function has been removed by Google on all smartphones with Android 8.0 or later, but we can still launch the assistant from the lock screen, without therefore previously unlocking the phone. If we want to integrate personal information when we launch the voice assistant from the lock screen, we go back to the Google app, then in More -> Settings -> Voice -> Voice Match and activate the Personal results item on the lock screen .
We will thus be able to decide whether or not to protect our privacy when we launch voice commands with a locked screen.
Voice commands usable on Android smartphones
After seeing together how to activate Ok Google on Android, in another article we saw 10 things to say aloud to the Android smartphone, below, however, we collected some lists of more useful voice commands to say aloud to the assistant .General informations
- What is "object"
- Who invented "object"
- What is the meaning of "object"
- Who is "famous person name"
- When "famous person name" was born
- Who is the author of "book name"
- How old is "famous person name"
- When "famous person name" was born
- When playing "team name" (intended as a football team)
- Team name results (always referred to as football results)
- Show me the Serie A standings
- Who is the wife / husband of "famous person name"
- When the sun rises
- How tall is the "mountain name"
- How long is the "river name"
- Definition "term"
- What time is it in "city name"
- Weather in "city"
- City Weather
- Launch "application name"
- Open www.navigaweb.net
- Access "site name"
- Call "Contact name"
- Send message to "Contact name"
- Send email to "Contact name"
- Listen to "song title"
- Open Camera
- Set me an appointment "day" at "hour"
- Write Note
- Remind me of "what to do" at "time and day"
- Add a reminder for "time and day"
- Wake me up at "hour" (we use 24 hour format)
- Set an alarm for the weekend at "hour"
- Set a weekday alarm at "hour"
- Turn off the alarms
- Turn off all alarms
- Navigate to "city name"
- Go to "away"
- Take me to "via" "city"
- "City name" map
- Show me Photos of "place or monument name"
- Find me a "place" nearby (eg pub or cinema)
- Flights from "departure city name" to "destination city name"
- Show me where I parked the car
- Show me the nearest parking lot
- What is x divided by y
- What is x minus y
- What is x plus y
- What is x multiplied by y
- What is x percent of y
- Square root of x
- Cubic root of x
- How many are x Liters in Gallons
- How many are x Euros in Dollars
- How many are 90 Degrees Fahrenheit in Celsius
- How many are 10 Megabits per second in MegaByte per second
- Tell me a joke
- Make a joke
- Let's play a game together
- sing me a song
- Tell me a fairy tale
Conclusions
Using the voice commands of the Google assistant on Android is quite simple, we will only have to add our voice model and say "Ok Google" or "Hey Google" to start asking for anything; each word must be scanned precisely enough to avoid confusion. Google's assistant can also be installed on the iPhone, so as to replace Siri in the dictation of voice commands.If we want to listen to all the voice commands dictated or the recordings made by the microphone (and saved on Google servers, which is not always appreciated by everyone), just read our guide on the history of voice commands recorded as audio files by Google .
If you prefer not to waste cell phone energy with the voice assistant or if we do not use it, in another article we have seen how to completely disable Ok Google .
We are looking for valid alternatives to Google's voice assistant "> Best voice assistants for Android and iPhone (alternatives to Google and Siri).
In a previous guide I had already explained How to use the Google search app on Android, mentioning the possibility of also using voice commands.
