How to install and configure Google Home

Google Home

Every day technology is more integrated into our day to day, for years we have smartphones where we have almost all the information we need for day to day, so much so that surely more than one does not imagine under any circumstances living without that comfort But there is something that has been emerging for a few years, it is voice assistants.

It all started back in 2011 with the launch of Siri for apple devices, but luckily for us a few years ago, powers such as Google or Amazon have entered the market giving the possibility of having a good assistant for less money, we are going to explain how to configure and install Google Home for our smart home.

First Steps

Both Google and Amazon have entered homes not only with their assistant for smartphones but also with dedicated devices, in both cases we have speakers for all budgets and in this article we are going to see how Google Home is installed and configured in our home and for it We have to start by downloading the Google Home app that is available both for iOS as if to Android

Sonos Beam lifestyle

Once this app is downloaded from the store corresponding to our platform, the first thing it asks us for is a Google account, it does not have to be gmail, any account associated with a Google account would be sufficient. Once this is done, we begin «creating a house», since what we want with the speaker with Google Assistant is to make our home a smart home with which to make our day to day more comfortable with an infinity of compatible functions whether they are home automation or leisure, The first thing to achieve this is to have a speaker compatible with Google Assistant and we have to resort to those that Google itself markets globally among all these models:

These official Google smart speakers can be complemented with other bluetooth speakers if you want to get a better sound or distribute it around your home, but they are essential if you want a device with an independent microphone and not depend on your smartphone. These models are for sale in most stores but you can also buy them directly in the Google online store.

Google Home Mini

Settings for the app and our Google Home speaker

We already have our speaker connected and the app installed on the smartphone, to link both devices we will use a local WiFi network, we must enter our name and address for optimal operation of the assistant, then we choose the location where we are going to locate our speaker (conference room living room, bathroom, kitchen etc ...).

If we are more than one member at home, we can invite members so that they can use the speaker as their own By sending an invitation to your email account associated with Google services, we accept all the permissions that the application requires if we want it to function optimally, if we do not have the Google application installed, it will require us to install it, we accept since we seek that the assistant can answer us as many questions as possible, and thanks to this it is achieved.

Music and Video Services

We now go to the music services that we want to link to our device, among which are Spotify, YouTube Music, Google Play Music or Dreezer, once selected it will ask us to link our account of the desired platform to Google Home, for that we will ask for both the email and the user password, from that moment just say "hey Google plays my last Spotify playlist" In the same way, we can also raise or lower the volume, go to the next song or search for a different one, it should be noted that if we do not have a Premium account of any streaming music service only YouTube Music or Spotify have their free option.

Google Mini

We already have our favorite music service linked but if you have a compatible TV, you may also be interested in the possibility of linking it to your Google Home, in this way too We can watch content from platforms such as Netflix or YouTube through a voice command on our TV, for example "hey Google, play Narcos from Netflix on the TV" or "hey Google, play the latest video from Actualidad Gadget on YouTube", from my own experience there are few things more comfortable than sitting on the couch and asking Google to play your favorite series or video on the television without having to touch anything, since if it is off it will turn on automatically, it is worth noting If our television is not compatible, With a Chromecast of any generation we will make our TV fully compatible with any function linked to Google Home.

Make or receive calls

We would already have the configuration of multimedia services linked and configured to our Google Home, but to finish the linking of main services, we have the option to make and receive calls with any Google Duo user or even call your own speaker To get in touch with whoever is at home at that time, we will only have to enter our mobile phone number and select the country of origin, from that moment any user who knows your number or Google account will be able to contact Contact you through Google services, even if you do not see it interesting to communicate with third parties, it can be very useful for when you want to call home and thus completely do without a landline (something that bothers more than anything else at this point) .

We would have already finished configuring the device and we will get a summarized list of everything we have configured to keep track of it in case we have left something behind.

Set up Google Home

Possibilities and recommendations

Personally one of the things that I use the most with Google Home is the control of the home automation of my houseBy this I mean day-to-day things like controlling the lighting, changing the temperature of the thermostat, opening or closing a blind, ordering the robot vacuum cleaner to work or turning on the fan.

Google Home lights

Something very useful is to Create reminders so that nothing happens to you, for example "Hey Google remind me to buy bread at 13:00 pm" or "hey Google set an alarm at 07:00 am"We can also create routines so that, depending on the voice command that we use, the assistant performs different actions, for example with the command: "Hey Google, good morning" so that it informs you about your calendar for the day, the weather, it reads you your reminders for today or tell you if there is traffic on the way to work so that after all it will give you a summary of all the most important news from Google Discord.

Recommended compatible devices:


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