FEBRUARY 2019 PCWorld 117service in the Home app (Spotify, Pandora, or
YouTube Music, for example) to get the best
results. To do this, follow the same steps in
the Google Home app that you used to
select news services, but click Music to link to
your service provider of choice.- PLACE A CALL
(OR A VIDEO CALL)
Google Home devices let you place a call,
and you don’t even need to have your
phone around. If you’ve allowed Home to
access your account, you can merely say
“Call [contact].” You can also read off a
number for Assistant to call. It’s like a
speakerphone call, but with better audio.
You will want to use the Home app to
configure the number that appears on caller
ID, though (you can provide your own
smartphone number, or you can leave it
labeled as “unlisted.”)
answer to a vexing numerical query. Just ask
Google to perform a calculation or
conversion, and it’ll reply instantly—much
faster than your fingers can type out the query.
- FLIP A COIN
Just can’t make a decision? You don’t need
pocket change to let lady luck decide. Tell
Google to “flip a coin,” and you’ll get the
result immediately. There’s even a coin-
flipping sound to complete the illusion
(sorry, there’s no animation on Google-
powered smart displays). - CREATE A CALENDAR
APPOINTMENT
Making a calendar appointment can be
tedious, but Google Home can handle all
the work for you. Simply tell Assistant you
want it to “Create a calendar appointment”
or something similar. Google Home will ask
for the title, date, and time before
adding the item to your calendar. Be
sure you set up voice matching if you
share a Google Home with other
users in your household. - PLAY MUSIC
You can tell Google Home to play a
specific artist or song, but you don’t
need to get that specific. You can ask
Google to play different genres or
something vague like “relaxing music.”
Make sure you’ve connected a music
A Google Home speaker that has both a screen and a
camera, such as the Lenovo Smart Display shown here,
allows you to make video phone calls.