Google Assistant is one of the most popular voice assistants on the market, and with good reason. It’s easy to use, has a ton of features, and can be customized to fit your needs. If you want to take advantage of all that Google Assistant has to offer, you need to start setting up routines. Here are some tips on how to do just that.

  1. First thing you need is a Google Home device. If you don’t have one yet, you can buy one from Amazon or Best Buy.
  2. Once you have your Google Home device, open the Google Home app and click on the three lines in the top left corner (see image below). This will open up your home screen (see image below).
  3. On your home screen, click on “Add new” in the top right corner (see image below). This will open up a new window where you can enter a name for your new routine (I called mine “Morning Routine”).
  4. Next, click on “Routines” in the top left corner of your home screen (see image below). This will open up a list of all of your routines (see image below).
  5. Click on “Morning Routine” and then click on the blue button that says “Create New Route” (see image below). This will create a new route for Google Assistant called “Morning Routine” (see image below). You can now customize this route by clicking on the different buttons in the bottom half of the window (see images below). For example, I clicked on “Start When Alarm Goes Off” so my routine would start when my alarm goes off each morning (see images below). ..

“Routines” might be Google Assistant’s most powerful feature, especially if you have smart devices around your home. You can automate several tasks with a single command. To make Routines even easier to use, you can add home screen shortcuts.

Google includes several pre-made Routines in the Google Home app, but you can create your own custom Routines as well. There’s everything from automating your workday to improving bedtime to adjusting the lights based on whether you’re home or away.

RELATED: How to Set Up and Use the Google Assistant “Bedtime” Routine

One downside to Routines is that they’re supposed to be started with a voice command. That’s fine most of the time, but in some situations, it’s not ideal. The easiest method is to create a home screen shortcut that will immediately run the Routine with a tap.

First, open the Google Home app on your Android device, then tap the “Routines” button in the top section.

Select the Routine that you want to create a shortcut for.

Tap the phone icon in the top bar.

A pop-up window will appear with a home screen icon for the Routine. You can tap and hold the icon to place it manually on your home screen or select “Add Automatically” to have it placed for you.

Now, with the icon on your home screen, you can simply tap it to run the Routine. A Google Assistant screen will appear and execute the commands.

That’s it! This is a great way to put your most-used Routines within easy reach.