All the voice commands and secrets of Google Now

With the arrival of Android 4.4 Kit Kat have come new voice commands for Google Now. The personal assistant from Google has gone from being a mere curiosity to a genuinely interesting services that enriches and “humanizes” content searches. In this list we’ve made you a summary of the countless commands you can carry out, whether from your Android smartphone or by using the Chrome desktop extension.

You have to keep in mind that the commands described here aren’t rigid, that is, all searches can be done naturally. Thus, the meaning and the result of saying “Tell me what is the latest novel from Stephen King” will be the same as saying “What’s the title of the latest book from Stephen King?” You can also do chain searches, meaning that if you ask “What time is it in Paris?” and then ask “How do you get there?”, it will be understood that you’re mentioning the same city as in the previous question.

Google entries

• Search [blank]
• Open [website]
• What is [blank]?
• Who invented [blank]?
• Who is the author of [book]?
• How old is [famous person]?
• When was [famous person] born?

Notes and reminders

• Remind me of [thing] at [blank] o’clock
• Remind me when I’m [someplace] to do [something]
• Wake me up at [blank] o’clock/in [blank] hours
• Make a note of [blank]
• Set the alarm for [blank] o’clock

Time and weather

• What time is it?
• What time is it in [place]?
• What is the timezone in [place]?
• Create a calendar event to do [something] at [time].
• The weather
• Is it going to rain on [day]?
• What’s the weather like in [place]?

Places

• What is the capital of [place]?
• Points of interest in [place]
• Photos of [point of interest]
• I want to go to [place]
• How to get from [place] to [place]
• Map of [place]
• Closest [type of establishment]/nearest [type of establishment] to [place]

Contacts Book

• Call [name]
• Send a [type of message] to [name], [message]

Sports and leisure

• When does [team] play?
• Did [team] win?
• Who directed [name of film]?
• Films/books of [artist/author]
• Themesong of [TV show]
• How long is [name of film]?
• Who are the actors in [name of film]?
• Who is the lead singer of [band name]?
• Who are the children of [famous person]?
• Who is married to [famous person]?
• Where was [famous person] born?
• YouTube [blank]

Google Now Easter eggs

The people at Google like to think themselves rather amusing, and have hidden a few little witticisms in the form of “Easter eggs” that are activated with certain voice commands, such as the following:

• Beam me up, Scotty (as a homage to Star Trek)
• When am I? (To which it will respond with a mention of Doctor Who’s Tardis)
• Make me a sandwich (It’ll tell you to make it yourself)
• What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything? (42, of course, as confirmed by The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
• How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? (And you’ll finally get your answer to that old tongue-twister)
• Do a barrel roll (and your entire screen will revolve 360 degrees, the same as it does if you search on the desktop version)

Some features may not be available to all languages.  For example, booking events tickets is only available in English. Instead of starting sentence with “Ok, Google”, you would have to press the microphone button manually.