Credit: Wirecutter
It won’t do a backflip and bark, but there are some neat things you can do with a Google Home.
Despite how advanced they are gradually getting, smart assistants are still a relatively young technology. The stuff they can do now, they can only really accomplish through some broad command interpretations and simple programming. However, just because your Google Home can’t burp the alphabet, balance your checkbook, and solve world hunger on command doesn’t mean there aren’t any cool things you can make it do. For, y’know, a given degree of “cool.”
Swap out its parts!
As someone who names every Pokemon he catches, I love customizing. It’s just fun to make something unquestionably yours with your own particular style. There’s lots of composite parts available for Google Homes to help them match your decor a little better. You can swap out the base on the bottom, or put a plastic skin over the part on the top. I know someone who has one covered top to bottom in leopard print, if that’s your thing.
Buy stuff!
If you set up a payment method and don’t mind coughing up for delivery, you can request specific items to your Google Home and have them delivered to you from your local big-box retailer (Walmart, Target, Etc.). I know I don’t like getting back in the car after work because I need to get some paper towels or something, so why not let them come to you?
Time yourself!
Do you ever think about how long you actually take when you’re brushing your teeth? They say you’re supposed to go for two minutes, but that seems kind of excessive to me. Anyway, if you’re wondering how long you take to do certain daily tasks, or even how long you take to perform your entire morning routine, you can have your Home time you. You can even set up specialized commands for certain tasks.
Order food!
Want some pizza? You can use your Home to request a pizza to your exact specifications from your local pizza chain (so, in other words, Domino’s). If you’ve got a smart lock in your front door, just ask your Home to unlock it and let the pizza guy right in! Or maybe don’t do that!
Futz with the settings!
As long as you don’t go changing ones into zeroes, you can mess with pretty much whatever you want without fear of permanent damage. If you go into your Google Home’s companion app, for example, you can change the voice to sound like various famous people, including Issa Rae and John Legend.
