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Smart speakers and voice assistants may be more useful for controlling your smart home, but in this case it’s all about instant actions. Now Google Assistant adds the ability to schedule orders, definitely a handy tip!
The Google Assistant is currently rolling out the ability to control and adjust smart home hardware on a schedule. For example, you can ask the Assistant to turn on a lamp with a Philips Hue bulb at a specific time or request that the action be performed a certain time from now. In addition to this, you can also request that an action only occur for a certain period of time. “Hey Google, turn on the lights for 5 minutes” would immediately turn the lights on, but turn them off a few minutes later without needing another command.
This feature was first announced at CES in January 2020.
This feature appears to be active right now, but may still be at the end of its rollout to users. Either way, on my Nest Hub, I was able to ask the Assistant to schedule a light to turn on at a specific time and on a timer. I didn’t try to plan these actions for another day, but Android Police said it works fine. Google says on a support page that users can schedule Assistant actions for “multiple” days, but that part seems a bit fickle.
Users can schedule the command to trigger by specifying a time or duration. For example:
- “Ok Google, turn on the lights in five minutes.”
- “Ok Google, turn on the lights at 7 am.”
Orders can be scheduled for the current day or for another day within the next seven day period. For example, users can say:
- “Ok Google, turn on my coffee maker tomorrow at 8 a.m.”
- “Hey Google, get my sprinkler running in a week at 5 o’clock.”
It might seem like a basic feature, but it’s one of the wizards that’s been missing for a long time. It’s also something that Amazon Alexa technically lacks, although a similar feature has worked with company routines.
Notably, this functionality is limited specifically to smart home devices. You cannot schedule actions like playing music or using routines. Functionality Is works, however, on Assistant speakers / screens and smartphones. Google also notes on its support page that you can cancel scheduled actions as a group or per device.
Learn more about the Google Assistant:
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