When you think about using Google Assistant, you’re likely just thinking about using it to ask questions or turn on your smart home accessories. But we’ve also seen the addition of Google Assistant Routines to the Home app, which can make your life just that much easier if you’re a routine-driven type of person.
Routines have been around for a couple of years at this point, but Google hasn’t done much in the way of showcasing the possibilities. However, if you know where to look and want to get started, being able to set up and use Google Assistant routines can really help you throughout the day.
By default, there are a few Google Assistant Routines that have been pre-populated in the Home app. These give a nice place to start if you’re new to the idea, but we’re going to bypass those for a bit and show you how to set up Google Assistant Routines from scratch.
Google has implemented quite a few different actions that can be used when you want to set up Google Assistant Routines. Here are the options you can choose from:
Depending on what you want to achieve, select the option that fits your needs from the list. Then, follow the on-screen prompts to add the action to your Routine. After you’ve finished, tap the Save button in the bottom right corner of the main screen. You can also set Google Assistant Routines to run multiple actions whenever the Routine is run.
Now, the Google Assistant Routine will automatically run based on the parameters you set. So if you created a routine to turn all of your lights off at the end of the day, you can either prompt Google Assistant with the voice trigger, or wait until the schedule time arrives.
After you’ve finished setting up your various Google Assistant Routines, there’s not much that you actually need to do in order to use the Routines. However, there is one useful tip that you might find comes in handy if you want to quickly access a Routine without actually diving into the Google Home app or prompting Assistant.
Early in 2021, users discovered that you can add shortcuts to your Home Screen for the various Routines that have been created. Originally, this feature was limited to select users, but it appears as though it’s now available for pretty much everyone within the Google Home app. And here’s how you can add Assistant Routines shortcuts to your Home Screen:
Now when you go back to your Home Screen, a new icon will appear with the Google “G” logo, along with the title of the Routine placed as the “icon name”. Thanks to this, you’ll now be able to quickly run and use Google Assistant Routines without needing to open the Google Home app.
If you’re interested in Google Assistant Routines, we definitely recommend going through all of the different menus and options to get a feel for what’s possible. However, Google has also provided everyone with a select number of preset Routines, which provide a pretty good base to get your feet wet. These are the Google Assistant Routine Presets that are currently available:
These are just a few of the presets available, and all of them can be tweaked and adjusted to your needs.