33. Google Assistant can even help book your next trip. Ask it to find flights from [your current city] to [your destination], and it'll walk you through the best available options. It'll even offer to track prices and keep you posted via email if the prices should change.
News and current events
34. Catch up on the day's goings-on by asking Assistant to listen to the news. You can configure exactly what types of news and what sources are included by tapping the three-dot menu icon on the screen that comes up and selecting "Settings."
35. Assistant can give you quick info on stocks of interest, too. Just ask it what you want to know:
- How are Alphabet's stocks doing?
- What was Apple's premarket price?
- What did Google open at today?
- What's the market cap of IBM?
36. Want to get regular updates on news, weather, or stocks? You can ask Assistant to give you daily briefings on any number of subjects. Try something like:
- Send me weather every day
- Send me news every day
- Send me stock updates every day
JR Raphael/IDG
Care for a custom daily delivery of delicious information? Assistant's got you covered.
And if you ever want to review or cancel your existing subscriptions, just say show my subscriptions to access a complete list.
Other useful odds and ends
37. Give your brain a break and let Assistant handle all your calculations and conversions. Pose practically any mathematical inquiry or unit changeover — liters to gallons, euros to dollars, you name it — and Assistant will give you the answer you need in no time.
38. Assistant's got all sorts of linguistic smarts. Ask it to define [any word], translate [any word] into any other language, or even just spell [any word] for a quick confirmation that you've got something correct.
39. If you ever find yourself in a multilingual conversation, Assistant's Interpreter Mode can be a real lifesaver. All you've gotta do is get your Assistant's attention and say Be my Spanish translator — with whatever language you need — and it'll handle the rest.
JR Raphael/IDG
Assistant's Interpreter Mode can be a huge help when you're trying to bridge a challenging language gap.
40. Google Assistant is overflowing with general knowledge as well. Ask it for any type of fact you can think of — who's the CEO [of any company], where are [any company's] headquarters located, how many calories does a turnip have, or anything else that might make you seem extra-informed in your professional adventures.
41. Just like a human co-worker, Google Assistant can occasionally get a little too chatty. If you want to get info from Assistant without having it answer out loud, either silence your phone's media volume or use the keyboard icon toward the bottom of the app's main interface. As long as you type your command instead of speaking it, Assistant should answer only with a visual response.
42. Sometimes, the simplest help is the most valuable. When you reach an impossible-seeming decision, call upon Assistant's infinite wisdom: Ask it to flip a coin, roll a die, or generate a random number. Or, if you're really feeling lucky (and/or crazy), say crystal ball and leave your fate entirely in Google's hands.
Hey, it's ultimately no worse than the Magic 8-Ball of yesteryear, is it?
This article was originallly published in June 2018 and most recently updated in January 2022.
