Android filter, use my phone as personal assistant with voice commands
May 28, 2015 7:03 PM Subscribe
I would like to use my Samsung Galaxy S5 as a personal assistant for very specific functions using voice commands. Mainly I want to be able to verbally set alarms with text description for specific dates and times. Example: "Set alarm for Friday 10:30 AM to call my brother". I tried but was dissatisfied with Google Now reminders.
My Google searching suggests I am not the only one dissatisfied with Google Now and their reminder facility (lack of ability to list/edit reminders, too easy to miss reminders, etc.)
An alternate but less desirable solution would be "Send Gmail to myself subject call brother Friday 10:30 AM". At least then I would have a record of this and I would see it in my email list which would be more noticeable than a reminder note.
I also tried the Voice Search combined with Alarm Clock Xtreme which let me set actual alarms, but does not want to listen for a description, so I end up being reminded but not necessarily remembering what to do (especially when I have multiple alarms outstanding).
Finally, I don't want to have to do multiple screens taps in combination with voice (except perhaps to make it listen to me). I want the voice commands to accomplish it all (e.g., when Bluetooth connected to my car in hands free mode).
I realize this might be asking too much of the technology in 2015 (and/or Android vs. iPhone). Alternatively, maybe there is a simple solution or app that I just happen to be stupidly ignorant of. Also, please feel free to recommend non-free apps.
My Google searching suggests I am not the only one dissatisfied with Google Now and their reminder facility (lack of ability to list/edit reminders, too easy to miss reminders, etc.)
An alternate but less desirable solution would be "Send Gmail to myself subject call brother Friday 10:30 AM". At least then I would have a record of this and I would see it in my email list which would be more noticeable than a reminder note.
I also tried the Voice Search combined with Alarm Clock Xtreme which let me set actual alarms, but does not want to listen for a description, so I end up being reminded but not necessarily remembering what to do (especially when I have multiple alarms outstanding).
Finally, I don't want to have to do multiple screens taps in combination with voice (except perhaps to make it listen to me). I want the voice commands to accomplish it all (e.g., when Bluetooth connected to my car in hands free mode).
I realize this might be asking too much of the technology in 2015 (and/or Android vs. iPhone). Alternatively, maybe there is a simple solution or app that I just happen to be stupidly ignorant of. Also, please feel free to recommend non-free apps.
I use the script "OK Google, remind me to call my brother at ten thirty AM on Friday."
posted by builderofscience at 7:43 PM on May 28, 2015
posted by builderofscience at 7:43 PM on May 28, 2015
Response by poster: Don't want to thread sit, so this is only to provide clarification:
@eisforcool: no, I will manually call my brother after I get the alarm...you have a point that I had said to Google Now (which I believe is what is invoked when I say "OK Google" ???) "Remind me to call my brother Friday at 10:30 AM" and it had accepted it, but I couldn't find a list of reminders to confirm it was there...also, another reminder did come up but without any fanfare so I missed it...finally, I just tried it and you're right, it says "Actually, alarms are limited to 24 hours" which is not good for my intended use cases, and is also not true when I type alarms in, so that's weird.
@builderofscience: see above comment about reminders vs. alarms, there are a lot of Google Search threads about the reminders not being very listable/editable/noticeable (I realize others may not agree, I just know I'm not the only one).
posted by forthright at 7:53 PM on May 28, 2015
@eisforcool: no, I will manually call my brother after I get the alarm...you have a point that I had said to Google Now (which I believe is what is invoked when I say "OK Google" ???) "Remind me to call my brother Friday at 10:30 AM" and it had accepted it, but I couldn't find a list of reminders to confirm it was there...also, another reminder did come up but without any fanfare so I missed it...finally, I just tried it and you're right, it says "Actually, alarms are limited to 24 hours" which is not good for my intended use cases, and is also not true when I type alarms in, so that's weird.
@builderofscience: see above comment about reminders vs. alarms, there are a lot of Google Search threads about the reminders not being very listable/editable/noticeable (I realize others may not agree, I just know I'm not the only one).
posted by forthright at 7:53 PM on May 28, 2015
I fiddled around with the function for a bit. It seems when you say "set alarm" and "set reminder" you are using two different parts of the google-verse. I use the "set alarm" function all the time, but I had never used the "set reminder" so when I used it just now it told me I had to set up Google Now, which I hadn't activated.
All that to say, when I say "set reminder for 10 pm Sunday call brother" it begins to set up a reminder, waits a moment then repeats it back to you saying something like "is this what you want?" and you say "yes" (still no buttons pushed at this point). Then, you can access your reminders by clicking on "view reminders" immediately on the same screen. Or, later, in that same google bar with the little microphone, click on the three little lines (or the back arrow) to get to your google profile settings and click on Reminders. There are probably other ways to see it too, I don't know.
At the time when the reminder is set for, my phone vibrates, plays a little tone, pauses whatever it's doing and a notice comes up with that note (just like a text or a missed call or something).
posted by eisforcool at 8:31 PM on May 28, 2015
All that to say, when I say "set reminder for 10 pm Sunday call brother" it begins to set up a reminder, waits a moment then repeats it back to you saying something like "is this what you want?" and you say "yes" (still no buttons pushed at this point). Then, you can access your reminders by clicking on "view reminders" immediately on the same screen. Or, later, in that same google bar with the little microphone, click on the three little lines (or the back arrow) to get to your google profile settings and click on Reminders. There are probably other ways to see it too, I don't know.
At the time when the reminder is set for, my phone vibrates, plays a little tone, pauses whatever it's doing and a notice comes up with that note (just like a text or a missed call or something).
posted by eisforcool at 8:31 PM on May 28, 2015
Best answer: Ah! Another way to see your reminders is simply to click on the google app (mine is a blue square called google) on the apps screen.
posted by eisforcool at 8:39 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by eisforcool at 8:39 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: @eisforcool: thanks very much for your additional work...as you said I clicked the blue square Google from Apps, then the three horizontal lines then picked Reminders and there is that Friday reminder I set yesterday! And I can edit it! That addresses 2/3 of my problem with Google Now reminders. I would like a bit more audio fanfare when the time arrives, but this may be satisfactory for my needs!
I will mark yours as a best answer but leave the question open for a day or so in case others have additional ideas or apps.
posted by forthright at 8:49 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I will mark yours as a best answer but leave the question open for a day or so in case others have additional ideas or apps.
posted by forthright at 8:49 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Huzzah!
posted by eisforcool at 9:01 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by eisforcool at 9:01 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you don't want to have to tap to access ok Google, you can enable the phone to allow ok Google to activate from any screen, not just the Google app. In that same three bar icon, go to settings>voice>ok Google detection.
posted by Karaage at 10:21 PM on May 28, 2015
posted by Karaage at 10:21 PM on May 28, 2015
Best answer: It sounds like you may have your answer, but I wanted to mention that I use Google Calendar for this because it's easy to see everything coming up, easy to see and edit from any device, and still gives me reminders. Just say "okay Google, add to calendar, call my brother at 10:30 am on Friday." Google will ask you to confirm the details then put an appointment on your calendar for 10:30 am on Friday. I like this more than the Google Now reminders and alarms because it's more flexible. You can even set up to 5 reminders ahead of time - sometimes I want a reminder 1 hour in advance and 10 minutes in advance so I can prep.
posted by Tehhund at 4:53 AM on May 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Tehhund at 4:53 AM on May 29, 2015 [4 favorites]
One of the handy things about Inbox is that it includes your reminders in the list of stuff it shows you in the app. You might try it out if you haven't already. (I've never used the web version, so I can't say whether it is any good, but I do like the app)
posted by wierdo at 1:31 PM on May 29, 2015
posted by wierdo at 1:31 PM on May 29, 2015
Response by poster: @Tehhund: thanks, I didn't realize I could add to Calendar, I learned a lot from this question.
@wierdo: I looked and looked in my Gmail app and saw no reminders, maybe I'm on a different version. Thanks anyway.
posted by forthright at 6:01 PM on May 29, 2015
@wierdo: I looked and looked in my Gmail app and saw no reminders, maybe I'm on a different version. Thanks anyway.
posted by forthright at 6:01 PM on May 29, 2015
Response by poster: Sorry, wierdo...I am using the Gmail app and though a blurb from Google did hit me about Inbox I have not used it yet and did not notice the capitalization.
posted by forthright at 6:16 PM on May 31, 2015
posted by forthright at 6:16 PM on May 31, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Using the google function on my android-running phone, I can say "Ok google" or tap the microphone then say "Set alarm for Friday at 7 pm call brother." And it sets an alarm for that time with a note that says "call brother" in its notes. There's no additional tap. It sets an alarm in the clock/alarm app that came with the phone and plays the tone that I set for my other alarms. BUT, it only let's me set an alarm for the near future (within the next couple days). Does that work for you?
posted by eisforcool at 7:42 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]