Google Routines Just Rolled Into Australia

Routines has finally made its way to Google Assistant devices in Australia. As the name implies, these provide guidance and help with a range of daily routines – from scheduling morning and bedtime to preparing you for work commutes. There are six ready-made routines to choose from, plus endless customisation options. Here are the details!

Routines is a new AI tool that helps you to stay organised through Google Assistant. For example, you can set Routines to switch off your Android TV when it’s time to get ready for a date, or command it to badger you to start exercising at certain times of the day.

While this may sound like handing over your free will to an artificial intelligence, in reality it just helps to keep you informed about your day and on track of upcoming tasks. In other words, it’s very “Lifehacker”.

There are six pre-set routines to choose from: Good Morning, Bedtime, Leaving Home, I’m Home, Commuting to Work and Communting Home – each with its own extensive list of commands that you can toggle on or off to match your personal requirements.

For example, you can select what Google Assistant does when you say “let’s go to work” – options include telling you the weather, going through your day’s calendar reminders and switching off lights and other smart appliances. When you say “bedtime”, you can get Google Assistant to automatically switch your phone to silent, set an alarm and heaps more.

Routines can now be found in the Google Home app. Here’s how to get started:

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi as your Google Home device.
2. Open the Google Home app.
3. In the top left corner of the Home screen, tap Menu.
4. Verify that the Google Account that is listed is the one linked to Google Home. (To switch accounts, click the triangle to the right of the account name.)
5. Tap More settings and then Routines and then choose a Routine and then tap the box next to an action.

Naturally, creating a Custom Routine greatly expands upon what this tool can do. Here are the main steps:

Create a Custom Routine

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi as your Google Home device.
2. Open the Google Home app
3. In the top left corner of the Home screen, tap Menu.
4. Verify that the Google Account that is listed is the one linked to Google Home. To switch accounts, click the triangle to the right of the account name.
5. Tap More settings and then Routines and then the + button.
6. Under “When…” Tap Add commands and + and then enter the phrase you want to say to trigger the Routine and then Ok.
7. Tap Back.
8. Under “My Assistant should…” Tap Add action and then enter what the Assistant should do. (You can enter any Google Assistant command or choose from popular actions and then Add.) Note: You can’t assign multiple voice queries to an action.
9. [Optional] Under “And then play…” Tap Add media. Tap the circle next to the media source. Note: You can customize what plays by tapping Settings gear next to the source.
   Tap Add and then Done.

You can read more instructions on how to get started with Routines over on Google’s support page.

[Via ausdroid.net]