Listen to music

Important: The languages you can use depends on the device. Learn which languages work on your device.

To play music, you can ask Google Assistant. To talk to the Assistant, say "Hey Google" or hold the home button.
Give one of the commands below.

Try these commands

Control what's playing

Songs: "Play [song name]." "Play [song name] by [artist name]." "Play [song name] on [music service]."
Artists: "Play [artist name]." "Play [artist name] on [music service]."
Albums: "Play [album name]." "Play [album name] on [music service]."
Genre or mood: "Play classical music." "Play music for cooking." "Play happy music on [music service]."
Personalised suggestions: "Play some music."

Control what's playing

Important: This feature may vary per device. Not all commands work with all devices. Check the owner's manual of your device for details.

Pause or stop: "Pause." "Pause the music." "Stop the music."
Resume: "Resume." "Continue playing."
Next: "Next." "Skip." "Next song."
Previous: "Previous." "Play previous."
Find info: "What’s playing?"

Change the volume

You can set the volume to a specific level (1–10) or per cent (1–100%).

Increase: "Turn it up." (Increases volume by 10%).
Decrease: "Turn it down." (Decreases volume by 10%).
Set a level: "Volume 5."
Set a percentage: "Volume to 65%."

Learn more about how to change volume.

Choose your default music service

Important: In August 2020, Google Play Music may shut down some of its services and in September 2020, access to Google Play Music might not be available for some users. If Google Play Music is your default service, please make sure that you update it. Learn how to transfer your Google Play Music account to YouTube Music.

Go to Google Assistant settings on your phone or tablet to choose a default music service like:

YouTube Music
Spotify

Important: Some services require you to sign in to your Google Account.

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Assistant app .
At the top right, tap your Profile image or initial Services Music.
Choose a music service.

Speakers, smart displays, Smart Clocks and TV devices

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Home app .
At the bottom, tap Home Settings .
Under "Services", tap Music.
Choose a music service.

Customise your news preferences

To choose your news preferences, you can go to Google Assistant settings on your phone or tablet.

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Assistant app .
At the top right, tap your profile picture or initial Settings.
Under "You", tap News.
Add or remove news sources.
To decide which news sources you hear first, tap and hold the news source that you want and drag it to the top.

Change your news playlist format

Important: This feature is only available in the US.

On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Assistant app .
At the top right, tap your profile picture or initial Settings.
Under "You", tap News.
To decide which news format you prefer, tap Change news playlist format.

Listen to news or podcasts

Important: Some features aren't available in all languages, countries or regions, or on eligible Android devices.

You can ask Google Assistant to play your favourite news stations and podcasts.

To talk to your Assistant, say "Hey Google" or press the button.
Give a command, for example:

Play the news

Listen to the news.
Tell me the news.
What’s the latest in technology?
Listen to [the news source name].
News about the Olympics.

Play a podcast

Listen to [podcast name].
Play [podcast name].
Listen to the latest episode of [podcast name].
Listen to a comedy podcast.
Find me a podcast about cooking.
Show me a podcast about cryptocurrency.
Recommend a podcast to me.

Tip: For speakers, smart displays and Smart Clocks that you set up, you can manage access to news and podcasts in Digital Wellbeing settings. Learn how to manage use of your Google Assistant device.

Browse recommendations for you

On smart displays, you can get podcast recommendations based on your web and app activity from other Google products. You also get an explanation of why a specific suggestion was made for you. To hide a podcast recommendation, tap Description .

Tip: If you don’t want to get podcast recommendations, learn how to manage personal results on your shared devices.

Hide a recommendation

Listen to radio

Important: Some features aren't available in all languages, countries or regions, or on eligible Android devices.

You can ask Google Assistant on your speaker, smart display, Smart Clock or car to play radio stations by name or location.

Say "Hey Google" or press the button to talk to the Assistant.
Give a command.

Try these commands

Play

Station name: “Play ESPN Radio.” “Play Mega 97.9 FM.” “Play Mega 97.9 on iHeartRadio.”
Frequency: “Play 98.5.”
Call sign: “Play KQED.” “Play KFOG.”
Location: “Play Z100 in New York.”
Nearby NPR station: “Play NPR.”
Find info: “What’s playing?”

Control what's playing

To pause or stop:
- “Pause.”
- “Stop.”
- “Stop the radio.”
To resume:
- “Resume.”
- “Continue playing.”

Control radio from the Google Home app

If you use Assistant on a speaker, smart display or Smart Clock, you can change the volume in the Google Home app.

On your phone or tablet, open the Google Home app .
At the bottom, tap Home .
Tap your device Change the volume.

Listen to audiobooks

Important: The languages you can use depend on the device. Learn which languages work on your device.

You can ask your Google Assistant to play your audiobooks.

Buy an audiobook. Learn how to buy a book on Google Play Books.
Say "Hey Google", then say a command. Find some examples below.

This feature doesn't work on Bose or Sonos speakers that have Google Assistant.

Play

A book: "Read [book title]."
Continue your most recent book: "Read my book."

Control what’s playing

Pause or stop: "Pause." "Stop."
Resume: "Resume." "Continue."
Go forward: "Skip [amount of time]." "Next chapter."
Go backward: "Go back [amount of time]." "Previous chapter."
Find info: "Who wrote this?" "How much time is left?"

Control audiobooks from the Google Home app

When you use your Google Assistant on a speaker, smart display or Smart Clock, you can change the volume in the Google Home app.

On your phone or tablet, open the Google Home app .
At the bottom, tap Home .
Tap your device Pause, Play or Change the volume.

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