94 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 73
ocean sounds, rain sounds, river sounds, thunderstorm
sounds, and white noise.
Google Home also features a sleep timer, which
you can set by duration (e.g. two hours) or by time
(for example, 1am.). To set a sleep timer using Google
Home’s ambient tracks, say, “OK, Google, play [sound]
for [duration]” or “OK, Google, stop playing [sound]
in [duration]”. You can also say, “OK, Google, play
[sound] until [time]” or “OK, Google, stop playing
[sound] at [time]”.
- Listen to a story
You probably shouldn’t use Google Home to replace
real-life storytime, but it can work in a pinch if you
need to entertain your kids (or yourself). Just say, “OK,
Google, tell me a story” and Google Home will play
a short, random children’s story from its library of
stories (don’t worry, all the stories are family friendly).
The stories come from third-party apps and are fully
voiced and narrated, so you don’t need to worry
- you’re not going to be subjected to the Google
Assistant voice robotically stutter through a tale.
You can narrow the story down by type – for
example, “OK, Google, tell me a princess story” or
“OK, Google, tell me a story about dinosaurs” or “OK,
Google, tell me a bedtime story”. You can also ask for
a specific story – for example, “OK, Google, tell me
the story of Snow White,” or “OK, Google, tell me the
Hansel and Gretel story”.
If you’re looking for something a little less involved
than a story, you can also ask Google Home to read a
poem or tell a joke.
