Figuring out how to use your Google Home or Nest as a speaker and play music on your Home device is our main priority, so let’s see how that works.
How to Play Music on Google Home Using Voice Commands
The whole point of Google Home devices is to give Google Assistant voice commands. While the primary purpose would be to ask Google to read your messages, set up a calendar appointment, or ask it to wake you up from your cat nap, you can also tell it to play music for you.
Whether you want to pair it with Spotify, YouTube Music, or another app, Google Home will serve you your favorites. However, before you can do this, you have to set up the device.
You’ll need two things—a Google Home or Nest device and the Google Home app (Android/iOS).
Install the Google Home app and launch it. Tap the + sign on the corner and Set Up Device. Scroll down to Speaker, tap it, and wait a little while for your phone to find the device and connect to it. Assign a room you keep the speaker in and connect to your Wi-Fi network. In the setup process, you can choose the default music service. Don’t worry—you can set it up later if you don’t want to do this now. In the Home app, let’s go set up the default music app. Tap Settings > Music and choose the music service you prefer. Now you can say “Ok Google, play Let It Go,” or whatever other song inspires you these days. You can also ask it to play your favorite playlist, a whole album, or podcast. The speaker will use your selected music service.
You can use some extra voice commands to control your music playback. Here are some ways you can ask your Google Home for this.
Requesting a specific song:
“Play (song name)” or “Play (song name) by (artist). " You can also name a particular album, ask for it to “Play songs like (song name). "
Requesting an artist:
“Play (artist name)” or “Play music by (artist name). " Also, ask to “Play songs like (artist name)” for similar singers or bands.
Requesting an album:
“Play (album name)” “Play (album name) by (artist name)”
Asking for music based on genre:
“Play classical/rock/reggae/etc music”
Asking for music based on mood:
“Play happy/sad music”
Asking for music based on activity:
“Play music for running/showering/cleaning/etc”
Controlling music:
“Shuffle” or “Shuffle (album)” “Pause” or “Pause music” “Resume” or “Continue playing” “Stop” or “Stop music” “Next,” “Skip,” or “Next song” “Set volume to (number or percentage)”
How to Connect Google Home to Your Phone
It’s not only voice commands that can help you listen to music on your Google Home or Nest device. You can also send music to your device and use your Google Home Mini as a Bluetooth speaker (or whatever else Google device you have). With some apps, this is easier than with others.
For instance, you have an effortless job with a few taps required with the Spotify app.
Find the song, playlist, or podcast you want to listen to. Tap the speaker button that’s right under the playback buttons. Choose your Google Home from the device list. The connection between the devices is established in a few seconds, and your speaker will start playing your music.
With other apps, you’ll need to take a few extra steps to make it work. YouTube Music, for instance, doesn’t have any quick selection buttons for alternative devices like Spotify does.
Here’s how you can use your Google Home as a speaker no matter what apps you’re using:
Launch the Google Home app. Tap on your Google Home speaker and then on the Settings wheel at the top. Go to Device features > Audio > Paired Bluetooth devices. Press the button you’ll find at the bottom of the screen titled Enable Pairing Mode. Next, you have to go to your phone’s Bluetooth settings. Find your speaker and pair it with your device. The Google Home will make a sound to confirm.
Now your speaker will act as audio output. Whether you play music on your smartphone, get phone calls, or watch videos on Facebook, the Google Home or Nest will take over for your phone’s speakers. You can adjust the volume from your smartphone, from the speaker directly, or with voice commands.
We should note that even if your speaker is paired like this to your phone, it will still accept your voice commands. Simply saying “Ok Google” will get its attention, and you can ask it to play a song from your preferred music service, look for a delicious pasta recipe or tell you the weather forecast.
Get to Rocking With Google Home
If listening to music is your go-to activity with your new speaker, then we have you covered, but if you want to do more, there are lots of cool stuff you can use Google Home devices for.
