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Google Home tips: 32 cool things you need to try with Google Assistant

Make sure you add these next-level Google Home tricks to your arsenal once you've mastered your Google Home and Nest basics.

Dale Smith Former Associate Writer
Dale Smith is a former Associate Writer on the How-To team at CNET.
Sarah Mitroff Managing Editor
Sarah Mitroff is a Managing Editor for CNET, overseeing our health, fitness and wellness section. Throughout her career, she's written about mobile tech, consumer tech, business and startups for Wired, MacWorld, PCWorld, and VentureBeat.
Expertise Tech, Health, Lifestyle
Dale Smith
Sarah Mitroff
5 min read
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Google Nest Minis come in four distinct "flavors": Sky (blue), coral (orange), charcoal (black), and chalk (gray).

James Martin/CNET

Your  Google Home  and Google Nest devices aren't just an elegantly designed family of smart speakers and displays. It's also a robust ecosystem of apps and automations you can use to get detailed information and build routines. Google Home also connects with your smart home gadgets as well as your tablets and smartphones. 

Whether you've got the original Google Home, a Nest Mini, Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max -- or an ever-expanding collection like some people -- chances are Google Home devices can do a whole lot more than you might realize. Like, you probably figured out how to play music as soon as you unboxed it, but did you know you can pair two Google Home speakers to play music in stereo? Or that any combination of speakers can pipe music through your whole house? Or that you can use your Google Nest as a bona fide Bluetooth speaker to blast any music streaming service

If you've mastered most of the basics and are ready for some next-level Google Home tips and tricks, here are 32 of the coolest, quirkiest and funnest things to do with a Google Home.

Find a spot for your Google Home

First, your Google Home needs a home -- preferably a spot where you'll get the most use out of it. That could be your living or family room, but Google Home can be surprisingly useful in other places, too, like in your foyer, bathroom or even garage. Here are some places to consider when deciding where to put your Google Home:

Watch this: The first 5 things to do with a new Google Home speaker

Beyond the basics

You can always refer to our up-to-date list of every Google Assistant command we know for a comprehensive list of features, but for starters, you might want to go in and choose which Google Assistant voice you want your smart device to use. Here are a few other settings you might want to learn and possibly change:

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If your household speaks more than one language, set Google Home to multilingual and it'll understand commands in two languages.

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How to talk to Google Assistant

The full list of Google Assistant voice commands is long and growing, but there are several that are especially helpful: 

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With big speakers, the Google Home Max can fill your home with music.

Taylor Martin/CNET

Rock out to some tunes

Playing music is the number one activity most people use smart speakers for. Here are several tips to get you started: 

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Blast whatever music, podcast or audiobook you want from your speaker. 

Dale Smith/CNET

Podcasts, audiobooks and bedtime stories

Another hugely popular use for your new Google smart speaker or display is listening to podcasts, audiobooks and children's stories. Here are some ways to get started with those:

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Google Home can either read along with children's books, or you can record a story with your own voice to be played back later.

Angela Lang/CNET

Outside-the-box tips

Here are a few tricks you might not have known your new smart speaker or display could even do: 

Control your smart home devices

Google Home speakers can serve as a central hub for all of your smart devices. For the most part, they can control any smart home product you already have. To get started:

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Google Home can connect to thousands of different smart home devices, including color-changing lights and more.

Chris Monroe/CNET

How to address common problems

Once you've set up your Google Home, you shouldn't need to mess with the settings or troubleshoot. But no platform is perfect, so if you run into problems, check out these guides:

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Google Home devices have a physical mute switch to help you keep private conversations private.

Chris Monroe/CNET

More recommendations to get the most out of your Google Home