Or, if you're feeling especially saucy, you can try some of these more advanced browser control commands: First and foremost, you can just ask it to search for followed by whatever term you want - or you can say images of, news of, map of, or video of followed by any term to start a new search in the appropriate Google service. (The side perk of that, by the way, is that your custom command won't inadvertently trigger any of your other devices, since it has its own unique launch phrase that isn't "Hey Google." Imagine that!)Īs for what Hey Buddy can do, the list of possibilities should feel familiar. ![]() Just type in whatever phrase you feel least silly saying to an inanimate object - "Hey browser," "OK computer," "Accio amigo," or perhaps "Golly gee, compy, can you help an old chap out?" - and your new desktop voice command companion will start responding to that phrase immediately. That's something I've been begging Google to allow within Assistant for ages now, and here, it's actually possible.Īll you've gotta do is open up the extension's settings - by finding its icon in the puzzle-shaped extension menu in Chrome's upper-right corner, then clicking the three-dot menu icon next to its name and selecting "Options" - and look for the "Hotwords" section at the bottom of the page that comes up. You just install it into your browser, no matter what operating system or type of computer you're using - and once you grant it the necessary permissions to operate, it'll listen for your prompt and stand by to do your bidding.īy default, Hey Buddy responds to the launch phrase "Hey Buddy" - who woulda thunk?! - but if, like me, you feel like a polka-dotted pony arse saying such a phrase out loud to your laptop, fear not, for you can also create your own custom launch phrase for the software to rely on. Hey Buddy (which may or may not have been inspired by Kramerica Industries) is an extension for the Chrome desktop browser. In my burning desire to make everything as easy as possible (a fancy way of saying "as a result of my laziness"), I tracked down a tool that can emulate most of Assistant's advanced browser magic and bring the same sort of time-saving, physical-force-eliminating delightfulness into any desktop environment.įriends, Romans, internet-persons: Allow me to introduce you to Hey Buddy. Hang on, though: Don't sulk away dejected just yet. For whatever reason, though, Google doesn't currently offer a desktop-based version of Assistant for most computers - and even on Chrome OS, where Assistant is available (and generally quite capable), the same sorts of browser-specific commands aren't supported. It oughta be able to handle anything an Android device can, oughtn't it? A computer packs plenty of processing punch, after all. The problem, though, is that once you get accustomed to being able to do all of that on Android, you really resent having to rely on your actual fingers (pshaw!) to achieve the same sorts of results on the desktop front. On certain devices, you can open and close tabs and move around your browser using nothing but spoken phrases, too. ![]() ![]() Last week, we talked specifically about some oft-forgotten Assistant-connected voice commands for controlling Chrome on Android - everything from pulling up pages in a jiff to sharing stuff with your comrades, co-workers, and maybe even cockatoos simply by uttering a couple choice words. And that's even more true once you add in the platform's little-known voice control booster pack. Short of making you a meatball sandwich (which I keep hoping the gang from Google will figure out how to pull off one of these days), there really isn't much Assistant can't accomplish on Android. the Google Assistant - and have it perform practically any task imaginable. When you carry around an Android device in your purple pantaloons all day, you get pretty used to the idea of being able to summon your invisible phone genie - a.k.a. Imacros chrome.Our trusty ol' phones sure do spoil us sometimes, don't they?
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