Play Content on Google Home

If you have Google Assistant enabled smart speakers or display devices, like the Google Home, you probably already use them with various commands to play content and control your connected devices. On this page, I will list voice commands that you can use to play audio and video content on these devices.

You can start with the conventional voice command "Hey Google" or "Okay Google" to activate the Google Assistant.

Google Assistant-enabled Devices

First a little bit of a build-up. There are several Google Assistant-enabled devices nowadays. The Assistant may be on your phone, speaker, Android Auto-compatible car, TVs, wearables and other devices. A list of devices available in the market can be found here: https://assistant.google.com/platforms/phones/

The commands listed here have been tested on a Lenovo Smart Display that runs the Google Assistant.

Play News

To play news from various online sources on your Google Assistant-enabled device, activate the assistant by saying "Hey Google" or "Okay Google" followed by the keywords in the headings below. For example, you could say, "Hey Google, play the news" or "Hey Google, play technology news". Optionally, if you want to hear the news from a particular source, you could say something like, "Hey Google, play PBS" or "Hey Google, play BBC". At any time if you want to skip the current news source just say, "Hey Google, play next". The source of the content will depend on the new sources currently participating with Google:

Play the News

Plays news from your default sources on Google News (How to set your default news sources?)

Play the latest news about <topic>

Plays news about a topic of you choice. For example, "what is the latest news about India" will play news about India.

Play Technology News

Plays technology news on Google News from various sources like TechCrunch, Wired Security, Engadget, The Front Row Entrepreneur, Wired, WSJ Tech News Briefing, NPR Technology, Cheddar, CNBC Tech Check.

Play Business News

Plays business news on Google News from various sources like CNBC, CNBC Markets Now, Yahoo! Finance Daily, Bloomberg Market Minute, Marketplace Minute, Bloomberg P&L, NPR Business, SoFi Daily Podcast, The Indicator from Planet Money, Transport Topics.

Play Sports News

Plays sports news on Google News from various sources like ESPN Radio, NPR Sports, Fantasy Football Today, CBS Sports Radio Minute, The Early Edge, The Leadoff.

Play World News

Plays sports news on Google News from various sources like Reuters, BBC News, Global's News Room, East Coast Radio Sport, RNZ Headlines, East Coast Radio Newswatch, Daily News Brief by TRT World, News-Scroll, CBC News World Report, DW News Brief.

Play Entertainment News

Plays entertainment news on Google News from various sources like Billboard News Now, Watch This, IGN, Associated Press, Let Me Google That, Bollywood Hungama, We Hear: Quick Fix, Anchor Weird AF News.

Play Politics News

Plays politics news on Google News from various sources like Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, CNN Political Briefing, NPR Politics, Political Breakdown, Democracy Now! Audio.

Play Science News

Plays science news on Google News from various sources like PBS Newshour Science, NPR Environment, Wired Science, WSJ's The Future of Everything.

Play Health News

Plays science news on Google News from various sources like The Space, NPR Health & Science, NPR Health Care, PBS Newshour Health.

Play Art & Lifestyle News

Plays art and lifestyle news on Google News from various sources like Real Simple Tips, Mom Tips, PBS Newshour Art Beat, NPR Art & Life.

Play National News

Plays national news on Google News from various sources like The Feed on The Official Libsyn Podcast, Air Force Academy News, Early Bird Brief.