The assistant can really make driving easier and more enjoyable. We recorded a short video to show you how to use it.
It’s a pity that Siri still hasn’t learned Polish, because many Polish drivers cannot use the full potential of Apple CarPlay. Sometimes we complain about Android Auto on Moto.pl, bashing Google, but this time we will only praise. The assistant speaks Polish very well and spreads his wings in the car. When using Android Auto, you can actually operate many useful functions by simply issuing commands to the Assistant. We chose four and recorded a short video for you, which shows the potential of Android Auto with the Assistant in use. Below the recording, of course, a short written version, for those who don’t like videos.
Google Assistant in the car – how to turn it on?
It is very easy. In the recording above, we woke up the Assistant just like on the phone. Just say “Ok, Google” and the assistant will activate and wait for your commands. The second option is to press the small microphone on the car’s display. The icon is always visible when using Android Auto.
There is a third option, but the least certain. Many cars have a button on the steering wheel to wake up the voice assistant. First of all, the one that the manufacturer of a given car embedded in its multimedia. Some brands do not pretend that drivers using Android Auto want to talk to their virtual assistant and allow them to call up the Google Assistant with a button. Unfortunately, many people deny reality and force them to talk to rather imperfect on-board systems. These are not comparable to the solution developed by a giant such as Google.
Google Assistant in the car – what can you do?
In the video you can see us giving the Google Assistant four commands. I use Android Auto almost every day, and the Assistant in the car almost always. Of course, it also works without Android Auto, so I can also talk to the phone in my Peugeot 206. Interestingly, outside the car I don’t communicate with the phone by voice, because I don’t see the need for it. In the car? That’s a completely different matter. My four favorite features.
- Setting a destination in navigation. The assistant can be given a specific address, it can also handle proper names, as well as locations we have saved, such as “home” or work.
- Changing the song. The assistant has no problems browsing and finding songs in the vast library of Spotify, the music application I use most often. Interestingly, you don’t always have to give him specific names of songs or albums. In the recording you can see that he also managed to cope with the command “play Dua Lipa’s new song”.
- Ringing. Easy. You can ask the assistant to call a specific contact. It’s very convenient in the car because you don’t have to look for someone on your contact list. Just enter your name and surname and the Assistant will find it.
- All sorts of questions. This is an interesting fact. The assistant has access to the Google search engine. So you can ask him about lots of things. Examples? Weather forecast, match time, election results, important events in the country or some completely different question. The assistant will tell you, for example, “what is a dachshund” or tell you a joke.
Android Auto and Google Assistant – is it worth starting to use?
It’s definitely worth a try. At first, using the Assistant and talking to the car may seem strange and unnatural, but it quickly turns out to be a very convenient feature of Android Auto. It really can do a lot and means you don’t have to take your hands off the steering wheel or grab your phone to find something. Android Auto is a useful tool for every driver, and when combined with the Polish-speaking Google Assistant, it becomes even better. We keep our fingers crossed for Apple to finally finish Siri’s education and let her speak Polish.
