PCMag reviews products, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Did you just get a speaker for the holidays? This stubby little speaker is about to become your best friend.
May 28, 2014 - Enable OK Google voice search assistant on Mac OS X Google Chrome web browser with this simple tutorial. Recent update to chrome. 16 hours ago Simply say “Hey Siri” in the proximity of the Mac, and Siri will start listening for your command. You can say something like “Hey Siri, what is the weather” or “Hey Siri, what time is it”, or use anything else from the large Siri commands list for Mac.
![For For](/uploads/1/2/4/1/124131154/199497882.jpg)
By yelling out 'OK Google!' You'll be able to set timers, play music, have it control a Chromecast connected to a TV, or tell you the phone number of the nearest Walgreens. Here's how to set it up. Plug in your Google Home Your Google Home plugs into the wall and, after a few minutes, will light up and start looking for your phone. There's no on/off button. It's always on when it's plugged in.
Stay nearby with your phone. Download the Google Home app from your phone's app store and open the app Download from or the. Accept the terms of service, and agree to turn on location permissions. Yes, Google's spying on you. By having the Google Home, you're all in. Might as well let it know where you are. Make sure you are connected to your home Wi-Fi network, as your phone will pass that information to the Google Home.
Sign in with a Google account You'll need a Google account to use Google Home; preferably one with a gmail.com address. If you don't have one, now's the time to pop open your browser on your PC, go to, and set one up. Don't allow email notifications We don't need more spam. You're going to have to do this twice.
Tap the setup icon in the upper right-hand corner Now, tap Sign In and set the location of your Google Home hardware. The speaker needs to do this so it can give you local weather and commute times. Link your music service Google Home supports four music services:, YouTube,. To get the most out of it, you need a Google Play Music or Spotify premium account. Those will let you request specific songs and albums. With the free services, you'll only be able to listen to themed stations or artist mixes. Google Home can't access your purchased or local music libraries.
Step through the tutorial Now you'll get some tips on how to use the Google Home, and fun things to ask it. My daughter likes to ask it how to spell words when she's doing her homework. Tap the left-hand menu button, then More Settings Let's set up some of the optional features on the Google Home. You can get to them through the menu accessed by tapping the three-line icon in the upper left hand corner.
Tap More settings to see the full list. Change your news and My Day settings When you say 'listen to the news' or 'tell me about my day,' you can get customized information from your Google Home. Tapping News, then Customize, lets you change your news sources—for instance, from NPR to Fox News. Tapping My Day lets you change a few options in the daily briefing. Change what the Google Home calls you Scroll all the way down and choose 'Personal Info,' then 'Nickname,' to change what Google Home calls you and how to pronounce it. Yes, you can have it call you 'Boss' or 'Colonel.'
Enter your commute locations If you want the Google Home to give you accurate commute times, under 'Personal info,' choose 'Home & work locations.' Enter the address of your home and office. Then you can ask it 'how long is my commute?' Add home electronics Google Home is compatible with,.
Tap Home Control to add a new Nest, Hue or SmartThings device. For you to add or control these items, they all have to be on the same Wi-Fi network. Add Chromecast devices Google Home needs a, or a Chromecast-compatible TV, to control your TV. Plug your Chromecast into the TV and switch to the appropriate input. When the Chromecast tells you on the TV to switch to the Google Home app, tap the 'devices' icon at the upper right-hand corner of the main screen to set up the Chromecast. You'll need to tie it to the same Google account used by your Google Home. You can then various music, video, and photo services, like 'OK Google, play Christmas music' via Spotify or Google Play Music or 'OK Google, play Stranger Things' via Netflix.
Control Google Home by voice and touch Curious about what to ask? Look in your Google Home app. Tap the menu button on the upper left and choose 'What can you do?' For some suggestions. To change the volume, make a dialing motion on the top surface of the Google Home, or say, 'OK Google, volume ' and a number from one to 11.
Have fun chatting with Google!
Let’s be honest: isn’t as exciting as we thought it would be. There’s no really fast way to trigger the virtual assistant, and for some reason she feels slower to respond on a Mac than she does on your phone. It turns out, Siri isn’t the only assistant you can try out on macOS: thanks to, you can also give Google Assistant a try. This unofficial client for Google’s API isn’t perfect, but it can answer questions really quickly. Even if you love Siri for Mac, it’s worth giving this application a try to see just how responsive Google’s virtual assistant can be. To get started, head to the and download the latest ZIP file. You can unarchive just by clicking it, then drag it to your applications folder.
RELATED: You’ll need to know how to to get this running (basically, Control-click the icon, then click “Open,” then click the “Open” button in the pop up window.) Mac Assistant runs in the menu bar. The first time you click the menu bar icon, you’ll be asked to sign into your Google account. After that, you’ll see a microphone in the pop-up window. Tap it to start talking to Google Assistant.
You can also trigger the assistant by tapping the left Command key two times. There’s not a lot in the way of visual feedback: you’ll see the words you said transcribed, and that’s about it. As of this writing, there’s no way for the application to visually show you things, and you won’t get the file system integration. You can ask questions, and that’s about it. Even so, it’s remarkable how quickly this tool can react to speech. I asked it about the weather, my calendar, and obscure questions about world leaders, and got answers instantly.
I even asked it how many tablespoons were in a quarter cup, and found out right away (it’s four.) Give this a shot, and compare Google’s responses to Siri’s. Neither is perfect, but it can be fun to compare the two, so enjoy.