How do I control my Android phone with voice commands?

Voice commands allow you to control your Android phone using your voice instead of touching the screen or buttons. With voice commands, you can launch apps, send messages, make calls, get directions, play music, and more just by speaking to your phone. This hands-free control can be extremely useful in situations where you need to multitask or when your hands are full.

Using voice commands on an Android phone requires the phone’s built-in voice assistant technology. Most Android phones come with the Google Assistant, which is activated by saying “Ok Google” or “Hey Google.” The Google Assistant has advanced natural language processing so it can understand regular conversational speech. Over time, it also learns your voice and usage patterns to improve accuracy.

Overall, voice commands provide a convenient, hands-free way to control your Android phone quickly. Voice control helps you save time and allows you to keep your focus while on the go. Given the widespread adoption of virtual assistants like the Google Assistant, voice commands are becoming an increasingly popular way to interact with phones and other devices.

Activate Voice Commands

To use voice commands on your Android phone, you first need to enable and set up the Google Assistant. Here’s how to activate voice control and launch the voice assistant:

Open the Google app and tap “More” in the bottom right. Then go to “Settings” > “Voice” > “Voice Match”. Turn on “Hey Google” detection and follow the prompts to record your voice.

You can also go into “Settings” on your Android device, select “Google”, choose “Account services”, tap “Search, Assistant & Voice”, and turn on “Hey Google” detection. Follow the instructions to record your voice.

Once enabled, you can launch the Google Assistant at any time by saying “Ok Google” or “Hey Google”. The phone will listen for your voice command.

If you want the Assistant to be always listening for the wake words, go to “Settings” > “Google” > “Account services” > “Search, Assistant & Voice” and enable “Voice Match”.

You can also train the Assistant to recognize your voice better by going to “Voice Match” and repeating some phrases. This will improve accuracy.

To change the launch phrase from “Ok Google”, go to “Voice Match” and tap “Say ‘Ok Google’ or ‘Hey Google'” to choose a different activation phrase.

Basic Commands

You can use voice commands to complete many basic tasks on your Android phone. Here are some common voice commands to try:

“Call Mom” – Make a phone call to a contact

“Set an alarm for 7am” – Set an alarm at the specified time
“Navigate home” – Start turn-by-turn directions to your home address
“Play [song name]” – Play music by voice

“Turn on Wi-Fi” – Toggle settings like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.
“Open Gmail” – Launch an app
“What’s the weather today?” – Check a weather forecast

“How tall is Mount Everest?” – Ask general questions

You can customize these commands by adding your own contacts’ names, your home address, favorite apps, and more. Experiment to see what works!

Sources:

[1] Access Google Assistant with your voice – Android

[2] The complete list of ‘OK, Google’ commands

Text Messaging

One of the most useful voice commands on Android is the ability to compose and send text messages hands-free. To send a text by voice, first make sure you have set up speech-to-text in your keyboard app’s settings, such as Gboard. Then open your messaging app and tap in the text field to bring up the keyboard.

Say “Ok Google” or your chosen wake phrase to activate voice typing. Speak your message naturally, pausing briefly between sentences. Say “send” or tap the send icon when you are finished. The app will transcribe your speech into a text message automatically.

You can include punctuation by saying commas, periods, question marks, etc. To add emojis, say “emoji” and describe the one you want. Your phone will insert the matching emoji. If you make a mistake, you can say “delete that” to erase the last section.

With practice, voice messaging can be faster and more convenient than typing, especially when on the go. Just be aware of your surroundings and privacy when dictating sensitive information aloud.

Making Calls

Android allows you to make phone calls and video calls using just your voice. To start, make sure the Google Assistant is enabled on your phone and activate it by saying “Hey Google” or “OK Google.” Say “Call” and the contact’s name to start a phone call. For example “Call mom” or “Call John Smith.” You can also make video calls by saying “Video call” followed by the contact name. Video calls are only supported with other users who have Google Duo installed.

To end a call that’s in progress, simply say “Hey Google, hang up” and the Assistant will terminate the call. The Google Assistant also allows you to receive calls just using your voice. When a call comes in, you can say “Answer” to accept the call or “Reject” to send it to voicemail. You can check recent calls by asking the Assistant to show your call history. By enabling voice calling through the Google Assistant, you can fully control phone calls hands-free on your Android device.

Sources:

https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/11273410?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googlevoice&hl=en_US&gl=US

Navigation

One of the most useful voice commands on Android is using Google Maps for turn-by-turn navigation. You can get directions and hear voice guidance without ever touching your phone.

To start navigation with your voice, open the Google Maps app and say “Navigate to [destination]”. Maps will plot the route for you and begin providing voice directions.

You can also check traffic conditions along your route by voice. Say “How’s traffic to [destination]” and Google Maps will analyze current traffic data and report back on what to expect.

If you run into any issues with voice navigation, like directions not playing or voices cutting out, check your Android Google Maps settings. You may need to allow voice guidance or adjust the voice volume.

Voice makes navigation quick and hands-free. Just make sure to keep your phone mounted and charged!

Calendar

You can use your voice to add calendar events, set reminders, and check your schedule on an Android phone when using the Google Assistant. To create a new calendar event, say “Hey Google” followed by a command like “Add an event to my calendar”. The Assistant will ask you to specify the event title, date, time, and other details. Once you provide the details by voice, the event will be added to your calendar.

You can also set reminders using commands like “Remind me to pick up groceries at 5pm”. The Assistant will confirm the reminder details and then add it to your calendar at the specified time. To check your upcoming schedule, say “Hey Google, what’s on my calendar today?” or “What’s on my calendar tomorrow?”. The Assistant will read out any events you have scheduled for that day or the next day.

According to Google’s support page, you can also view calendar events on an Android smart display by tapping the screen to bring up event cards and swiping to browse. Using voice commands to manage your calendar is a convenient hands-free way to schedule appointments, set reminders, and stay on top of your day.

Media Controls

You can use voice commands to control music and video playback on your Android device. Here are some of the key phrases you can use:

To play or pause media: Say “Okay Google, play my music” or “Okay Google, pause the video.” You can also say “resume” or “stop” instead of play/pause.

To skip tracks: Say “Okay Google, next song” or “Okay Google, previous song.” You can skip forward or back through songs and videos.

To adjust volume: Say “Okay Google, turn up the volume” or “turn it down” to change the media volume.

To repeat or shuffle: Say “Okay Google, turn on repeat” to keep repeating the current song or video. Say “turn on shuffle” to shuffle the playback order.

To play specific media: Say “Okay Google, play jazz music” or “play funny cat videos” to start playback based on your query.

You can issue these commands from anywhere on your Android phone or tablet. The device will automatically control whatever media app is currently active. This allows hands-free voice control over your music and videos (https://developer.android.com/media/implement/surfaces/mobile).

Settings

You can use Voice Access to change various settings on your Android phone through voice commands. Here are some examples of settings you can control:

Turn Wi-Fi on or off: Say “Turn Wi-Fi on” or “Turn Wi-Fi off”
Adjust volume: Say “Turn the volume up/down” to raise or lower the volume
Enable airplane mode: Say “Turn on airplane mode”

Rotate screen orientation: Say “Turn auto-rotate on/off” to enable or disable rotating the screen
Adjust display brightness: Say “Make the screen brighter/dimmer” to adjust brightness
Turn on flashlight: Say “Turn on the flashlight”

Clear notifications: Say “Clear all notifications” to dismiss notifications
Check battery level: Say “What is the battery percentage?”

You can customize many device settings hands-free using Voice Access commands. Just speak naturally to change common settings based on your needs and preferences.

Troubleshooting

If you are having issues getting Android voice commands to work properly, here are some tips for troubleshooting:

Make sure that your device is connected to the Internet over cellular data or Wi-Fi. Voice commands require an internet connection to function properly. See this Google support article for more details.

Check your microphone and make sure it is not blocked or obstructed. Try cleaning the microphone port gently with a soft brush.

Go to your Assistant settings and make sure “Hey Google” detection is enabled. You can also retrain the voice model if it is having trouble recognizing your voice. See this Google support page for help.

Consider uninstalling updates for the Google app and re-updating to force a refresh of voice command capabilities.

As a last resort, backup your data and perform a factory reset on your device. This will wipe the device and install a clean version of the OS which should restore full voice command functionality.

If you continue to have issues, contact the device manufacturer for hardware troubleshooting tips or reach out to Google support for further help.