How to use Google Now to automate your home and life

Sure there's a lot of hype surrounding the Amazon Echo, but what if I told you that you already have the features the Echo offers on your existing Android smartphone? It's called google now.

We've covered using Google Now for things like searching the web 6 Google Now Features That Will Change The Way You Search 6 Google Now Features That Will Change The Way You Search You may already be using Google Now on your Android device, but are you getting all you can get out of it? Knowing these little features can make a big difference. Read More In fact, you can do a lot with just your voice while driving, even more than texting! Read More

If you have an Android phone, don't blow your hard-earned money on an Amazon Echo! Follow the tips in this article to use your voice-controlled smartphone to automate everything in your life that's important to you.

Control your Nest Thermostat

No, there is no Google Now command to directly control your Nest Learning Thermostat 13 things you didn't know you could do with a Nest thermostat 13 things you didn't know you could do with a Nest thermostat with your new Nest Thermostat! Read More

Nest Learning Thermostat (T3007ES), Easy Temperature Control for Every Room in Your Home, Stainless Steel (3rd Generation), Works with Nest Learning Thermostat by Nest (T3007ES), Easy Temperature Control for Every Room in Your Home , stainless steel (3rd generation) , Works with Alexa Buy Now On Amazon $180.50

If you've never used IFTTT before, be sure to check out our IFTTT guide The Ultimate Guide to IFTTT:Use the Web's Most Powerful Tool Like a Pro The Ultimate Guide to IFTTT:Use the Web's Most Powerful Tool Like a Pro Also Known as IFTTT is a free web-based service for your apps and devices to work together. Not sure how to build your applet? Follow along with this guide. Read more and set up your account. Next, create a new recipe and select Gmail as the trigger. Choose New email in search inbox , and type “subject:nest” in the Search field.

Create the trigger, then choose the Nest channel as the action. Select the Nest device you want to control, set up the BodyPlain Ingredient to use the body of the email as a temperature setting.

What this IFTTT recipe does is watch your email account for any incoming emails with the subject “Nest”, and adjust your Nest temperature to the number in the body of the email.

So how does this work with Google Now and your phone?

Well, now all you have to do is say. “Email Ryan, Subject Nest, Message 70 “.

Instantly, Google Now will send the email, the email will activate IFTTT, and your Nest will be set to 70 degrees. Done.

Tips for your Google Now email trigger

Now that you know the trick to turning Google Now into your own voice controller for everything, there are a few things you can do before you start going crazy setting up your integrations.

• The last thing you want is a bunch of random emails arriving in your regular email account, so you may want to consider setting up a special email account just for your Google Now voice triggers and setting it up to work with your IFTTT account.
• For each on/off setting, such as Philips Hue lights smartly light up your home With Philips Hue smartly light up your home With Philips Hue If you can afford the upfront cost, you won't find a better support and more users System friendly smart lighting on the market. Read More Try something like “kitchen lights on” or “kitchen lights off”, and then configure those integrations (see below).
• For devices that need to adapt to a configuration, use the body of the email to do so, like in the Nest example above.
• When you set this “voice control” email to IFTTT, consider giving it a name that makes sense to you. Hey, if you really want to make people laugh, give her a call. “Alexa”.

To avoid any copyright infringement, I'm going to go with "Johnny" for my voice controlled personal assistant.

Add reminders to your to-do app

No matter which Online Tasks app you use, odds are pretty good that you can post through IFTTT. ToDoist automate your life and work with Todoist and IFTTT automate your life and work with Todoist and IFTTT Play creatively with ToDoist's notification features, and IFTTT's ability to do really cool automation with them. We show you how to combine the two powers your productivity. Read More

Here is the voice command you can use for this:“Email Johnny, to do, message Pick up groceries today ”

Create a Gmail trigger using New email in search inbox and set the Find field to “what to do”.

Next, create an action for the task app of your choice. In my case, I use ToDoist. How much more productive is ToDoist Premium? Here are 6 good reasons to upgrade How much more productive is ToDoist Premium? Here are 6 good reasons to upgrade I've been using ToDoist for free for a while now. But I kept facing things that I wanted to do and couldn't. Email reminders. Adding notes to the task. Stuff that would really add a lot... Read More

Your email message becomes the task you add to your to-do app. The great thing about ToDoist is if you include words like "next Tuesday at 4pm" or "every 3rd Wednesday of the month", ToDoist is smart enough to schedule that task exactly how you want it.

The ability to do this with your voice, without touching your phone or your computer, is a very nice feeling.

Log your weight with your Fitbit

Here is the voice command you will use for this integration:“Email Johnny, Subject Fitbit, Message 220 ”

The goal here is to simply tell your phone what your new weight is, and have your Fitbit record it. Kick-start your summer fitness and weight loss with FitBit Kick-start your summer fitness and weight loss with FitBit. A little more serious about our weight. In particular, it's that time of year when people worry about what those summer outfits will look like... Read More With IFTTT, this is really simple.

Create a Gmail trigger using New email in search inbox and set the Find field to “fitbit”.

Then choose the Record your weight Action on the Fitbit channel. Fill in the Weight Field with the body ingredient of the email..

Now all you have to do is use your new Fitbit voice command to send your weight with your Android phone, and you're good to go. You don't need to find a computer or sign in to your Fitbit app with your phone. Just say it, and you've recorded your weight.

Post to social accounts

Sure, with the Amazon Echo you can use voice commands to post to Facebook and Twitter, but so what? You can do the same with Google Now.!

This is the voice command you'll use to post to Facebook 5 Free Methods to Schedule Facebook Updates 5 Free Methods to Schedule Facebook Updates At MakeUseOf, we've already covered several ways you can schedule Twitter updates, so even if you don't it is. on your computer, you can continue to send information, links, and thoughts to your followers. Ditto… Read More:“Email Johnny, Facebook Subject, Message This is my status update! ”

As you can see, the subject of this command says “Johnny” who wants to post to Facebook, and the body of the email contains the post. This is what it looks like on IFTTT Facebook. Create a status message action.

Here's the voice command you'll use to post to Twitter The 6 Best Tools for Scheduling Twitter Updates The 6 Best Tools for Scheduling Twitter Updates Read more:“Email Johnny, Twitter Subject, Message I can't believe I can post on Twitter with my voice! ”

This tells “Johnny” that you want to post to Twitter, and the body of the email contains the Tweet. This is what it looks like on IFTTT Twitter. Post a Tweet action.

Hey, why stop at Facebook and Twitter? Why not post to Slack? Get more out of Slack with these 7 tips Get more out of Slack with these 7 tips With a smart user interface, Slack makes a potentially complex workflow simple and intuitive. Communication has been redefined. Make better use of Slack with these tips. Read More I'll tell you what, you can't issue Amazon Echo social commands while running or driving outside your home, but you can do it with Google Now - both inside and outside your house.

Here's the voice command you'll use to post to Slack:“Email Johnny, Subject Slack, Message Hi everyone, I'm running late for the meeting! ”

This tells “Johnny” that you want to post to Slack, and the body of the email contains the post. This is what it looks like on the IFTTT SCI. Post to channel action.

Note that you need to define a single channel where your voice-controlled Slack posts will go.

Just imagine what you can control with your voice

All you have to do is browse through the IFTTT channels to see how many cool things you can control with your voice with this new approach. If you have SmartThings products 3 ways to protect your family and your home with the presence of SmartThings 3 ways to protect your family and your home with the presence of SmartThings Do you want to use technology to keep your loved ones closer and safer? See what a SmartThings Presence can do to keep an eye on your home. Read More, Wink Appliances, WeMo Appliances 3 Ways The Belkin WeMo Can "Smarten" Your Regular Household Lamps 3 Ways The Belkin WeMo Can "Smarten" Your Regular Household Lamps We took the time to look at the possibilities to turn your regular household lamps Smart Lamps . Read More

It's really only limited by smart home products. 5 Smart Home Appliances You Should Buy 5 Smart Home Appliances You Should Buy The "smart home" concept is taking off, and you need to keep up, or you'll end up missing out on the future. Read More

Do you have Google Now enabled on your phone? Are you going to try any of the automations mentioned above? Share your own creative ideas in the comments section below.