How do I play music through voice commands on Android?
Using voice commands to play music on Android devices offers a convenient hands-free way to control your music playback. With the rise in popularity of smart speakers and voice assistants like Google Assistant, more Android users are taking advantage of voice commands to manage music listening on mobile.
Voice commands allow you to easily play, pause, skip tracks, adjust volume, and more without having to touch your phone. This enables safe hands-free control while driving, exercising, cooking, and in other situations where you don’t want to handle your device.
Android’s voice control integration with major music services like Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora, and Google Play Music means you can use natural voice commands to access playlists, albums, artists, and songs from your preferred music apps.
With some setup and understanding of the available voice commands, controlling music playback via voice can become an integral hands-free part of your daily mobile experience.
Activate Voice Commands
In order to use voice commands on your Android phone, you must first enable and grant access to your voice assistant app. Here are the main steps to activate voice commands:
First, enable voice assistant access from the lock screen. Go to Settings > Security & Location > Lock screen preferences and toggle on “Voice assistant”. This allows you to activate the microphone and issue voice commands without unlocking your phone first (1).
Next, allow microphone access for your preferred voice assistant app. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > App permissions > Microphone and make sure the app you want to use is set to “Allow”. Common options include the Google app for Google Assistant, Samsung Bixby, Amazon Alexa, and third party apps like Nuance Dragon Anywhere (2).
Finally, set your preferred voice assistant app. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Default apps > Digital assistant app and select your desired voice assistant. Options may include Google Assistant, Samsung Bixby, Amazon Alexa, or another installed voice assistant app (1).
With these permissions and settings enabled, you should now be able to activate voice commands just by saying “Ok Google”, “Hey Bixby”, “Alexa”, or another wake phrase, without even touching your Android device. Give it a try!
Link Music Service Accounts
To use voice commands to play music, you’ll first need to connect your Android device to your music streaming accounts. The most popular option is Spotify, which offers both free and paid subscription options. To link your Spotify account, open the Spotify app on your Android device and select “Connect to a device” from your settings. You can then log into your Spotify account and sync it to your Android device.
Other music services like YouTube Music, Pandora, and more are also supported. You can link multiple accounts so you have access to all of your music libraries via voice commands. However, be aware of limitations if you only use the free versions of these services, such as ads or skip limits.
Paid subscriptions to services like Spotify Premium or YouTube Music Premium will give you full access to stream any song without limitations. This will provide the best experience for voice controlled music playback. Connect premium accounts before using voice commands for seamless access.
Basic Voice Commands
Here are some of the most common and useful voice commands for controlling music playback on Android devices:
To resume playback of music that was recently paused or stopped:
– Say “Play my music” or “Resume music”
To pause the music that is currently playing:
– Say “Pause the music” or “Stop the music”
To skip to the next track in the playlist or album:
– Say “Skip song” or “Play next song”
Some other helpful voice commands for basic music playback include:
– “Turn it up” – to increase volume
– “Turn it down” – to decrease volume
– “Repeat this song” – to replay current track
– “Shuffle play” – to turn on shuffle mode
– “Play some music” – to start playing songs
– “Stop the music” or “Stop playing” – to end playback
The exact phrasing of voice commands may vary across different Android devices and voice assistants. Refer to your device’s help documentation for more specifics.
Play Specific Music
You can play a specific song, album, artist, or playlist by using voice commands with Google Assistant. Here are some examples:
To play a specific song, say “Play the song [song name]”. For example, “Play the song Happy by Pharrell Williams.”
To play an album, say “Play the album [album name]”. For example, “Play the album Thriller by Michael Jackson.”
To play songs by a certain artist, say “Play songs by [artist name]”. For example, “Play songs by Taylor Swift.”
To play a playlist, say “Play my playlist”. For example, “Play my Chill Vibes playlist.”
Google Assistant will search for the specified song, album, artist or playlist from your linked music streaming services and begin playing it.
Search and Discover New Music
You can use voice commands to search for and discover new music on your Android device. Here are some examples of voice commands you can use:
To find new releases, say “Ok Google, what are the latest album releases” or “Hey Google, what new albums came out this week”. Google Assistant will provide a list of the latest music releases so you can check out new music.
To play similar music to what you’re currently listening to, say “Ok Google, play songs like this one” or “Hey Google, play more songs like this”. Your music app and Google Assistant will queue up similar songs based on the current track.
You can also ask for personalized music recommendations by saying “Ok Google, play me something I might like” or “Hey Google, recommend some new music for me to listen to”. Google Assistant will suggest music you may enjoy based on your listening history and musical tastes.
Using voice commands makes discovering new music quick and hands-free. Give it a try next time you want to find new releases, artists, or songs that match your preferences.
Request Music for Activities
You can ask your Android device to play certain types of music to match particular activities or situations using voice commands. Here are some examples:
Workout music: “Play high energy workout music” will have your device play fast, upbeat music to motivate you during exercise [1].
Music for commuting: Say “Play music for my commute” and your Android will select driving music to make your travel time more enjoyable [2].
Party music: “Play upbeat party music” will cue festive, lively tunes perfect for your next celebration [3].
Romantic music: Set the mood with “Play romantic music for dinner.” Your device will pick soft, romantic songs for a dinner date night [1].
Requesting situation-based music is a handy way to find the right tunes without having to search manually. Android’s voice capabilities make it effortless to match your music to whatever you’re doing.
Adjust Music Playback
You can use voice commands to adjust music playback on your Android device in various ways:
To control the volume, say “Hey Google” or “Ok Google”, followed by “turn the volume up” or “turn the volume down” to raise or lower the volume incrementally. You can also specify a percentage like “set the volume to 50%” for more precise control.
To queue up a song to play next, say “Hey Google, play [song name] next”. The specified song will be added to the front of the queue.
To repeat the current song or playlist, say “Hey Google, repeat this song” or “Hey Google, repeat this playlist”. Saying “Hey Google, turn repeat off” will disable repeat.
To shuffle the playback order of songs, say “Hey Google, shuffle playback” or “Hey Google, shuffle playlist.” Say “Hey Google, turn shuffle off” to return to normal playback order.
So in summary, voice commands give you hands-free control over volume, queuing, repeating, and shuffling songs on your Android device.
Troubleshooting
If voice commands for playing music are not working properly, there are some troubleshooting steps you can try:
First, make sure the music app has permission to access your device’s microphone. Go to your phone’s Settings -> Apps -> Select the music app -> Permissions and enable Microphone access.
Also review any connected accounts or services linked to the music app, like Spotify or Pandora, and make sure logins are still valid. Disconnect and reconnect any linked accounts in the music app’s settings if needed.
Try restarting your phone or just the music/voice assistant app itself. This resets any glitches that may be interrupting voice command functionality.
Check that your phone has a stable internet connection, either via WiFi or cellular data. Music apps require an internet connection for voice commands to work properly.
As a last resort, you can contact the developer support for either the music app or your phone’s operating system, like Google or Samsung, to troubleshoot and resolve any lingering voice command issues.
Conclusion
Playing music through voice commands on Android devices can be incredibly convenient once it’s setup properly. This guide covered the main steps of activating voice commands, linking your music service accounts, using basic playback voice commands, requesting specific music, searching for new music, and adjusting playback – all hands-free.
The key benefits of voice controlled music are the ability to easily access your music library and services without fumbling with devices or apps. You can request music to match any mood or activity, discover new artists or playlists, and control playback through simple commands.
Beyond basic music playback, voice commands open up additional use cases like requesting driving directions paired with an ideal soundtrack, controlling your smart home appliances while listening to music, or multitasking while cooking and streaming your favorite playlist.
With some practice, voice commands can become second nature and make accessing your music collection quick and seamless. Consider customizing your own playback commands or shortcuts to make voice control even more personalized. If you run into any issues, be sure to check device permissions, re-link services, and troubleshoot microphone or network problems. Overall, voice controlled music helps create a hands-free, convenient listening experience.