Help and how-to’s for the holidays
Tag Archives: Google Assistant
How to host a group video call to celebrate the holidays
This is the first year I won’t be celebrating the holidays in-person with family. I’ll be with my wife and young son, and like so many others, we plan on hosting a group video call to virtually “get together” with family and friends spread out across Ireland and England. Thankfully, Google Assistant can already help us make group video calls with Google Meet or Duo—and just in time for the holidays, an early preview of Zoom calling is starting to roll out on Nest Hub Max. So if you have a Zoom account in the U.S., U.K., Canada or Australia—whether it’s free or paid—keep an eye out for this new video calling option.
Because no one likes when their video call freezes mid-sentence, a good internet connection and solid Wi-Fi are a must. To help with that, Google Wifi and Nest Wifi just got even better by auto-detecting and prioritizing video conferencing on Google Meet and Zoom Meetings.
Whichever holiday you celebrate this season, here are a few steps you can take to host your next virtual gathering.
Step 1. Ahead of the big day, create a Google Calendar invite on your phone or laptop and send it to everyone you’d like to add to your video call. You can add up to 100 people with Google Meet, so you have no excuse not to invite your second cousin once removed. If you’re planning to host your call through Meet, choose the “Add Google Meet video conferencing” option. It's also OK if your family members don't use Google Calendar—simply grab the meeting ID and share it with them via email, text or whichever way you keep in touch, and all they have to do is click it to join the video call with a web browser.
Step 2. If you’re planning to host calls through Zoom on your Hub Max, you’ll need to link your Zoom account to your Google account beforehand. Just make sure to create your Zoom meeting ID first and add it to the calendar invite for your guests.
Step 3. Use your Hub Max to open Zoom, Google Meet or Duo for your holiday celebration call. Just ask, “Hey Google, join my next meeting” to join the next video call on your Google Calendar. Or say, “Hey Google, start a Zoom call.”
Bonus tips:
Meet video calls are unlimited (up to 24 hours) through Mar. 31, 2021, so you won’t have to worry about your celebrations being cut short.
Choose which device you’ll use ahead of time—and try to place it near your router. If you have a mesh Wi-Fi system (like Nest Wifi and Google Wifi), your home will have smarter Wi-Fi coverage, so you may not need to worry about this!
Did you know that Nest Wifi and Google Wifi users can make sure any device gets video calling preference by default? Just open the Google Home app (if you’re still using the Google Wifi app, you can easily migrate your network to get this feature), tap the Wi-Fi icon at the top and ensure that video conferencing is enabled in the preferred activities settings.
Source: The Official Google Blog
A smarter smart home from Google and Samsung
So many products come together to power a smart home—light bulbs, thermostats, TVs, speakers...the list goes on and on. To make it easier for you to control all of your connected devices, we’ve been working closely with manufacturers to make sure your devices communicate and work across the smart home ecosystem. Coming soon, your Assistant and Nest devices will now interoperate more easily with your Samsung smart devices in your home.
You’ll be able access and control your Nest devices, like Nest cameras, thermostats and doorbells with the SmartThings app—and even through Samsung smart home devices, like smart TVs and refrigerators. Previously, you could only do things like set the temperature remotely or view your camera feeds from your Nest devices from the Google Home app, but now you have more ways and more places to control your smart home from (And interested developers can learn more about our Device Access program).
More Samsung smart home appliances and devices will also soon come with voice support from Google. So you can say “Hey Google, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.” And we recently announced that Google Assistant is available on Samsung’s latest lineup of Smart TVs, making it easy to turn your TV on or off, change channels and control the volume without even getting off your couch or digging for the remote.
Setting up your smart devices will also be easier: Samsung now offers simple linking with your Google Assistant right from multiple Samsung apps, including SmartThings to streamline the process. Plus, we’ve also expanded the Google Assistant control of Samsung devices across six new languages (Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Korean and Japanese) to meet users in their native languages.
And to make it even easier to quickly control all your smart home devices, we’re working to bring one of our favorite features of Android 11 to Samsung’s new Galaxy smartphones. When you tap on "Devices" in the Quick Panel of the phone, you can choose an option among multiple apps and see all connected devices within the app on one screen.
Whether you’re starting the dishwasher or checking the porch for packages, Google, Samsung and SmartThings can make the increasingly connected home a little bit smarter.
Source: The Official Google Blog
A smarter smart home from Google and Samsung
So many products come together to power a smart home—light bulbs, thermostats, TVs, speakers...the list goes on and on. To make it easier for you to control all of your connected devices, we’ve been working closely with manufacturers to make sure your devices communicate and work across the smart home ecosystem. Coming soon, your Assistant and Nest devices will now interoperate more easily with your Samsung smart devices in your home.
You’ll be able access and control your Nest devices, like Nest cameras, thermostats and doorbells with the SmartThings app—and even through Samsung smart home devices, like smart TVs and refrigerators. Previously, you could only do things like set the temperature remotely or view your camera feeds from your Nest devices from the Google Home app, but now you have more ways and more places to control your smart home from (And interested developers can learn more about our Device Access program).
More Samsung smart home appliances and devices will also soon come with voice support from Google. So you can say “Hey Google, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.” And we recently announced that Google Assistant is available on Samsung’s latest lineup of Smart TVs, making it easy to turn your TV on or off, change channels and control the volume without even getting off your couch or digging for the remote.
Setting up your smart devices will also be easier: Samsung now offers simple linking with your Google Assistant right from multiple Samsung apps, including SmartThings to streamline the process. Plus, we’ve also expanded the Google Assistant control of Samsung devices across six new languages (Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Korean and Japanese) to meet users in their native languages.
And to make it even easier to quickly control all your smart home devices, we’re working to bring one of our favorite features of Android 11 to Samsung’s new Galaxy smartphones. When you tap on "Devices" in the Quick Panel of the phone, you can choose an option among multiple apps and see all connected devices within the app on one screen.
Whether you’re starting the dishwasher or checking the porch for packages, Google, Samsung and SmartThings can make the increasingly connected home a little bit smarter.
Source: The Official Google Blog
Never miss a beat: Apple Music is now available on the new Nest Audio
Get ready to jam: You can now ask Google Assistant on Google Nest and other Assistant-enabled smart speakers and displays to play all the music you love on Apple Music.
Starting today, Apple Music is rolling out to Google Assistant-enabled devices like Nest Audio, Nest Hub Max, Nest Mini, and more. Apple Music subscribers can search and play songs (more than 70 million!), albums and playlists—all ad-free—just by using their voice.
To play music from Apple Music, first link your Apple Music account in the Google Home app. You can also select Apple Music as your default music streaming service. Then, all you have to do is say, “Hey Google, play New Music Daily playlist,” or “Hey Google, play Rap Life playlist.”
You can ask Google Assistant to play any specific song, artist or playlist available on Apple Music, and you can play music based on genre, mood, or activity. You can also play your liked songs from your Apple Music library by saying, “Hey Google, play my songs” or “Hey Google, play my library.” If you have more than one compatible smart speaker or display, you can use our multi-room control feature in the Google Home app or on a Nest smart display to dynamically move your music from one device to the other, and even play music on all of the devices in your home by saying, “Hey Google, play music on all my speakers.”
Apple Music will begin rolling out today on Nest and other Assistant-enabled smart speakers and displays in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan. With the addition of Apple Music to our audio streaming lineup, you have even more choices when it comes to music streaming services. So whatever the occasion, we’ve got the DJ booth covered.
Source: The Official Google Blog
How Google is helping me connect with family this year
In a normal year, my family would be planning for our 12-hour flight to South Africa, my home country, to see family for the holidays. But since we can’t do that this year, we’re trying to reimagine the usual gatherings and traditions—the same way we’ve already reimagined work, school, birthdays and other holidays.
I’ve been thinking back to how we coped with lockdown in March and April, and using that to figure out how to close out the year. Like every other family with small children, I am not entirely sure how I managed it—and let’s be honest, most of the time I relied on pure survival tactics. But I also developed a range of new hacks and skills, making use of a few practical Google products. As we prepare to do it all again, with shorter days and colder weather, these are some of the lessons I’ll take with me:
Storytime Hour with Granny comes with a free printout to color with each story.
Near or far, loved ones can be close
So many families are dispersed across the globe. I live in the UK, but I’m originally from South Africa, and my family still resides there. I haven’t ever experienced what it’s like to have parents living nearby, but somehow during lockdown the thing I needed most was to have my mum there to lend a hand with the kids or just pop in for a cup of tea. My children were not in school, and I was managing a large project at work. To add insult to injury, my kids also openly admitted that my storytelling was just not up to scratch during our daily school lessons, and that they’d prefer to “hear from Granny, because she does the funny voices.”
Necessity being the mother of invention, “Storytime Hour with Granny” was born.
We began a tradition of setting up a Google Meet every afternoon, so she could read a story to her grandchildren for an hour. We set up the call in Google Calendar, where it was easy for her to simply click on the Meet link, and for one precious hour, my children were transported to another place, mesmerized by old storybooks. (And I transported myself to my home office for some less mesmerizing but blessedly uninterrupted focus time while listening to questionable music and sipping coffee that wasn’t cold, for a change.)
Sometimes you need to consult the biscuit instructors. Yes, that is a job.
Create a class
As much as my kids loved the connection with their grandmother, they also needed to connect with their friends. My son is in his third year of primary school, so he’s not old enough to socialize virtually on his own. So I set up a weekly “class assembly” where he could connect with his peers, say hello and spend most of the hour pulling faces at each other. Using Google Meet on my laptop meant we could see all 30 kids and their parents joining from their homes. (Even if, at times, the camera was pointed towards the ceiling or only the top of a child’s head.)
Each week we picked a different topic to talk about. When it was my turn, I hosted a banana bread-making class, where I asked the Google Assistant to pull up a simple recipe from YouTube that we could all follow easily. As a backup, the Google Assistant can quickly provide answers to questions such as “How many tablespoons is one cup?” (It was also helpful with the many other fundamental questions lockdown brings, such as “How many blues are there in the world?” and “What does a peregrine falcon sound like?” among others I needed reminding of, such as what day of the week it was.)
Besides all the helpful features, Nest Hub Max can display a seemingly infinite carousel of photos.
Share and display your photos
As my parents live far away, this year I have decided to gift them a Nest Hub Max for Christmas. I know my mum will keep it in the kitchen, which means she can watch YouTube videos, stream Netflix content, listen to music and make video calls on Google Duo, all while she’s preparing meals or having tea. It also means my parents won’t need to set up their laptop for Storytime Hour anymore; they can just dial in straight from this nifty device.
But the thing I’m most excited about is the Nest Hub Max’s photo frame feature. All grandparents love photos, but they seem to have taken on new significance in the absence of face-to-face visits—even the not-so-photogenic ones (and like many families who take photos on the fly, we have plenty of those action shots). And now my children won’t have to say, “Take a picture! Don’t forget to send it to Granny! Did you send it to Granny? You forgot, didn’t you?” Soon they’ll be able to automatically see and enjoy those moments in a shared photo album from Google Photos shown on the display, whether it’s that vacation we took to Croatia pre-lockdown, or a macro close-up of my daughter’s forehead. To enable this, all you need to do is set up the Nest Hub photo frame feature.
“That’s a really great photo of your arm...or is that my arm?”
Help with bedtime
When the days slip into more days that feel exactly the same as all the other days, creating a set daily schedule—especially for bedtime—has been key to helping my children settle down. I set up a Routine using the Google Assistant on a Google Nest Mini in the kids’ room. As they’re getting into their pajamas and bouncing off the walls, I say the command that, frankly, Mary Poppins would’ve been grateful for: "Hey Google, bedtime." I’m given tomorrow’s weather forecast (informing us, almost always, that we’ll need to pack an umbrella) and any scheduled calendar events. It then sets an alarm for the morning and dims the lights, ready for story time. To help them nod off, it also plays relaxing sounds, turning the noise off automatically after an hour when they are hopefully sound asleep. This has really helped them adjust to their own rhythm at home, even if it doesn’t always go to plan—which, let’s be honest, is at least 50 percent of the time. But at least the chaos is accompanied by the lulling background noise of crashing waves.
Source: The Official Google Blog
Now playing: New music from Nest Audio Sessions
I’ve always been one of those people who feels like their life has a soundtrack. In college, everything was playing out to Jay Z, and there were a couple of years dominated by bossa nova. But 2020 was a difficult one for me to find the right tunes for. Between working from home and a serious lack of concert-going (as in, zero), I haven’t had as much music inspiration as I usually would.
This is why I’m so excited about something new that’s coming to Google Nest Audio. We teamed up with nine female artists from all over the world and asked them to record tracks at home exclusively for an album we’re calling Nest Audio Sessions. Some of the artists are debuting entirely new tracks while others are giving existing songs a new spin.
Nest Audio Sessions features Ella Mai, Jessie Reyez, Mabel, Shizuku (Polkadot Stingray), BENEE, Tove Lo, Lola Indigo, Joy Denalane and Louane. All you have to do is say “Hey Google, play Nest Audio Sessions on YouTube Music” to hear the full compilation from all nine artists.
“It felt pretty awesome being a part of this collection of female artists featured on Nest Audio Sessions,” said BENEE. “The Nest Audio speaker will definitely be the way to listen to music this holiday season. Having a really good speaker just means getting great sound. You get great bass and it picks up everything you want to hear.”
You can access Nest Audio Sessions from any Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker or display, but the album is truly made for the new Nest Audio, which is 75 percent louder, has 50 percent stronger bass than the original Google Home. It is also powered by Google Assistant, so you can request specific songs, adjust the volume, and even move music from one device to another using just your voice. Nest Audio has full, clear, natural sound—it’s music how it is meant to be heard. Plus, Nest Audio comes with three months of YouTube Premium for free, and right now, you get $30 off when you buy two Nest Audio devices, so you can pair them for stereo sound. And when you think about it, enjoying high quality audio so you can listen to songs crafted in artists’ own homes is sort of perfect.
But however you listen, check out Nest Audio Sessions. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new soundtrack.
Source: The Official Google Blog
The Nest devices that save sleep-deprived parents
When my daughter Ruth was born this January, she was a handful. Literally. In the early months of her life, she refused to be put down, fussing and screaming unless we were holding her, walking up and down the hallways of our home. I became a sleep-deprived zombie, shuffling around with one arm free to get some much-needed coffee. And that was on a good day.
I needed all the help I could get. And for me, some of that help came in the form of Google Assistant. Thanks to the Google Nest devices around my house, I was able to get things done a little easier by saying, “Hey Google, turn the temperature down” or “Hey Google, play some soothing music.”
If you’re thinking about the frazzled parents in your life this holiday season, there are a variety of Nest products that might be just right for your gift list. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
For the parents who are music lovers
Whether your kid blisses out to classic rock or gets hyped up to the umpteenth playing of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” music is key to getting a little bit of peace in the house. The new Nest Audio can play songs via your favorite streaming music subscriptions with a simple voice command. Plus, it features Media EQ that automatically adjusts the volume based on the background noise in your home. Want to play white noise to soothe your crying baby while you get her bottle ready? It’ll be loud enough to hear over all that whining.
For the nursery that absolutely must be perfect
In our house, the temperature can fluctuate depending on what time of day it is. That makes it tough to make sure Ruth is at a comfy temperature for naps and nights. Luckily, the new Nest Thermostat offers Quick Schedule, which lets you set a custom temperature at different times of the day. That way, we can make sure Ruth’s nursery is at the right temperature at night, but our office isn’t stiflingly hot during the day. Plus, the thermostat is simple to use and at an affordable price, which makes it an easy fit for many families.
For the family looking for shows to watch together
With the COVID-19 pandemic making families stay home more than usual, that means it’s extra crucial to find shows everyone agrees on. Thankfully, the new Chromecast with Google TV gives you personalized recommendations based on what you like to watch. And its new remote lets you control your smart home using Google Assistant.
For the couple constantly shouting across the house
We have various Nest devices throughout the house, and we use them to communicate with one another. If I’m feeding Ruth in the nursery downstairs and she’s hungrier than I expect, for example, I say, “Hey Google, broadcast to Kitchen Display: ‘I need another bottle,’” so my husband can bring down a bottle. And when tracking how much she drank, we’d ask the Assistant to convert milliliters to ounces, or just do basic addition and subtraction when we were too sleepy to calculate how much she had to eat. Data-loving parents like me can also use a list to track feeding amounts and nap times via Keep, Docs or other note-taking apps.
For the grandparents who miss their little ones
My daughter was born in the months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, so we were lucky to have family come by and help out until she was about two months old. But by March, we were quarantined, leaving the grandparents sorely missing their granddaughter. With our Nest Hub Max, we can make hands-free video calls on Google Duo—and when the baby naps, we can quickly decline a few overenthusiastic calls from Grandpa’s Nest Smart Display or smartphone app. And the Hub Max’s camera angle moves with us throughout the room, so we can get chores done (or just keep Ruth happy) while we keep in touch.
These days, Ruth can handle being put down. (Well, at least sometimes.) But I know that Nest will keep being a helping hand as she gets older—and especially when she asks me to play cartoons on repeat.
Source: The Official Google Blog
The Nest devices that save sleep-deprived parents
When my daughter Ruth was born this January, she was a handful. Literally. In the early months of her life, she refused to be put down, fussing and screaming unless we were holding her, walking up and down the hallways of our home. I became a sleep-deprived zombie, shuffling around with one arm free to get some much-needed coffee. And that was on a good day.
I needed all the help I could get. And for me, some of that help came in the form of Google Assistant. Thanks to the Google Nest devices around my house, I was able to get things done a little easier by saying, “Hey Google, turn the temperature down” or “Hey Google, play some soothing music.”
If you’re thinking about the frazzled parents in your life this holiday season, there are a variety of Nest products that might be just right for your gift list. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
For the parents who are music lovers
Whether your kid blisses out to classic rock or gets hyped up to the umpteenth playing of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” music is key to getting a little bit of peace in the house. The new Nest Audio can play songs via your favorite streaming music subscriptions with a simple voice command. Plus, it features Media EQ that automatically adjusts the volume based on the background noise in your home. Want to play white noise to soothe your crying baby while you get her bottle ready? It’ll be loud enough to hear over all that whining.
For the nursery that absolutely must be perfect
In our house, the temperature can fluctuate depending on what time of day it is. That makes it tough to make sure Ruth is at a comfy temperature for naps and nights. Luckily, the new Nest Thermostat offers Quick Schedule, which lets you set a custom temperature at different times of the day. That way, we can make sure Ruth’s nursery is at the right temperature at night, but our office isn’t stiflingly hot during the day. Plus, the thermostat is simple to use and at an affordable price, which makes it an easy fit for many families.
For the family looking for shows to watch together
With the COVID-19 pandemic making families stay home more than usual, that means it’s extra crucial to find shows everyone agrees on. Thankfully, the new Chromecast with Google TV gives you personalized recommendations based on what you like to watch. And its new remote lets you control your smart home using Google Assistant.
For the couple constantly shouting across the house
We have various Nest devices throughout the house, and we use them to communicate with one another. If I’m feeding Ruth in the nursery downstairs and she’s hungrier than I expect, for example, I say, “Hey Google, broadcast to Kitchen Display: ‘I need another bottle,’” so my husband can bring down a bottle. And when tracking how much she drank, we’d ask the Assistant to convert milliliters to ounces, or just do basic addition and subtraction when we were too sleepy to calculate how much she had to eat. Data-loving parents like me can also use a list to track feeding amounts and nap times via Keep, Docs or other note-taking apps.
For the grandparents who miss their little ones
My daughter was born in the months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, so we were lucky to have family come by and help out until she was about two months old. But by March, we were quarantined, leaving the grandparents sorely missing their granddaughter. With our Nest Hub Max, we can make hands-free video calls on Google Duo—and when the baby naps, we can quickly decline a few overenthusiastic calls from Grandpa’s Nest Smart Display or smartphone app. And the Hub Max’s camera angle moves with us throughout the room, so we can get chores done (or just keep Ruth happy) while we keep in touch.
These days, Ruth can handle being put down. (Well, at least sometimes.) But I know that Nest will keep being a helping hand as she gets older—and especially when she asks me to play cartoons on repeat.
Source: The Official Google Blog
Stop, drop and pass the rolls! Thanksgiving fun with Google
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, which can only mean the approach of a classic dinner table debate: stuffing or dressing? If your family is busy dishing out their hot food takes, they're hardly alone: Google searches for "stuffing vs dressing" in the U.S. spiked more than 350 percent this past week.
But let’s not forget about other Thanksgiving favorites. We took a look at uniquely searched side dishes in each state this year. It seems California is feeling just gravy, while Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky are ready to casse-roll. Check out what’s being searched in your state for some meal prep inspiration.
Speaking of prep, taking charge of the Thanksgiving meal, even for small groups this year, is no easy feat. If you’re looking for some insider tips on how to make that perfect stuffing (or dressing!), search for “Thanksgiving” on Google to hear from expert chefs like Mary Ann Esposito and Jess Pryles. They’ll answer some of your top questions and share some expert advice. You’ll feel like a top chef in no time.
If you need an extra hand finding recipes, staying on track in the kitchen or figuring out ingredient substitutes, Google Assistant can help. Try asking, “Hey Google, give me Thanksgiving recipes,” for step-by-step guided instructions on Smart Displays, like Nest Hub Max. Here are a few other ways Assistant can help out in the kitchen:
Set a timer. You can already ask Google to set timers for help when your hands are full, but new for this year, say “Hey Google, set a turkey timer” for a visual and audio surprise on Assistant-enabled smart speakers and Smart Displays
Quickly convert measurements or figure out a substitute ingredient. Just ask, “Hey Google, how many tablespoons in a cup?” or “Hey Google, what’s a substitute for buttermilk?”
Learn a new cooking technique. Try saying, “Hey Google, show me videos for how to roll pie dough” or “Hey Google, show me how to brown butter.”
Search for recipes based on specific dietary needs. Just say, "Hey Google, show me vegan stuffing recipes" or "Hey Google, show me gluten-free cornbread recipes."
But not everyone wants to commit to cooking on Thanksgiving; maybe this year takeout is more your style. You can use Google to order dinner—and now, once you’ve placed your order, Google Maps will show you the live status of when it’ll be ready for pickup or arrive at your doorstep…which could come in handy if you want to pretend you made it all yourself (we won’t tell). And even if you opt for take-out this Turkey Day, you can always up the game on your table scape with ideas from Google Images.
Whatever you decide on for dinner and whether you’re with family or sitting around the virtual table, there are still ways to connect with loved ones and make this year feel festive. Try recording a special moment with them and adding it to “The Great Thanksgiving Listen,” a StoryCorps campaign that encourages people across the country to contribute audio stories to a collective oral history. Google Cloud also recently partnered with StoryCorps to make its entire catalog of stories available and searchable for everyone, with help from AI.
As a fun bonus, search “Happy Thanksgiving” on Google for a hidden surprise. We figured it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a slice of something sweet.