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Voice Control Your Google Home Device From All Over the World

'Google Home is a voice-activated speaker powered by the Google Assistant. Ask it questions. Tell it to do things. It�s your own Google, always ready to help. Just start with, "Ok Google".'

Although many of Google Home's functions can be accomplished directly on your mobile phone, there are some functions--think home automation--that can only be done, or easily done, though the Google Home device. But the Google Home device is only in one room of your house. Some times you just want to use it from anywhere in your house. Or, perhaps, from anywhere in the world when you are on vacation. This article demonstrates a solution that allows you to do just that.

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The Concept

The concept is rather simple. Google Home device is voice activated, meaning you control it using your voice. So the solution is to provide voice communication between you and Google Home from anywhere in the world. I suspect by now, if you are reading this article, then you already carry a SmartPhone with you where ever you go. And your SmartPhone can definitely transmit your voice. So what if you give Google Home a SmartPhone so that it can hear and talk back with you? ;-)

That's the basic concept; giving a old spare Smartphone or tablet to Google Home, so that you can communicate with it at all times. This article will provide step-by-step instructions to help you do that.

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What You'll Need

  • Google Home, or Amazon Echo, etc.
  • SmartPhone, or Tablet, etc.
  • Spare SmartPhone, or Tablet, etc.
  • Voice Chatting App

Although this article uses Google Home for demonstration, it really works with any voice activated virtual assistant, such as the Amazon Echo (Alexa).

You are likely already carrying a SmartPhone or tablet everywhere you go. You can use this existing mobile device to communicate with Google Home. If you do not carry any mobile devices, you can pick up an Android prepaid phone between $20 and $50 at the nearest retailer.

More than likely, you have an old SmartPhone or tablet at home collecting dust. You might as well give it to Google Home, so that you can talk to it and control it. Note that this old SmartPhone or tablet has to be new enough to run the voice chatting app that we will talk about next.

The voice chatting apps connects the two phone together so that sound can be transferred. There are a number of voice chatting apps out there. The key features this concept requires is "voice activation" and the ability to stay connected 24/7. In this article, we are going to use Discord, a free voice chatting app for gamers. Discord requires Android 4.1 and up, so your spare SmartPhone or device needs Android 4.1 or newer. Discord is also available for iPhone.

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