ISSUE 73 • ANDROID ADVISOR 93To manage and set up Routines, open the Google
Home app, tap the Routines icon, and tap Manage
routines. Google Home has six preset routines
called ‘good morning’, ‘bedtime’, ‘leaving home’, ‘I’m
home’, ‘commuting to work’ and ‘commuting home’.
The presets are pretty straightforward: trigger the
‘bedtime’ routine, and Google Home will do things
like put your phone on silent, ask what time to set
an alarm for, and turn off your lights (if you have
connected lights). The presets are just suggestions
- you can fully customize them with different
commands, actions and media.
You can also set up your own custom routines to
do just about anything. To set up a new routine, tap
the ‘+’ symbol in the Manage routines menu and add
the command(s) to trigger the routine, the action(s)
to be performed, and the media to be played. It’s
also possible to set up routines that are triggered by
a specific time/day – for example, every weekday at
7am – rather than a verbal command.
- Relax
Google Home has its own library of soothing ambient
tracks at the ready when you need some background
sound to help you sleep, meditate or just relax in
general. If you’re not picky about the type of sound
you want to hear, say, “OK, Google, help me relax,” or
“OK, Google, play ambient noise” for a random pick.
You can also ask for specific sounds by name: relaxing
sounds, nature sounds, water sounds, running water
sounds, babbling brook sounds, oscillating fan sounds,
fireplace sounds, forest sounds, country night sounds,