Google Assistant on Android TV without secrets

Android TV - intuitive and easy to use

Let's start with the fact that the Android TV operating system is a variation of the world-famous Android mobile system. However, the word "TV" in the name of this variety does not appear by chance. In TV sets with the Android TV system, such as Toshiba 65UA4B63DG or Toshiba 65UA6B63DG, the system is not a simple "transfer" of a well-known mobile system. Android TV is about leaving the intuition of classic Android while enriching the system with features that are especially useful on a TV. This is important, Android and Android TV are not the same. It is true that both systems get along great with each other and you can use the same Google account in both, but the interface and functionality of Android TV is optimized for using the TV, not the small screen of a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.

More comfortable environment, well-known applications

Combining the intuitiveness of Android with the functionality of the TV has resulted in a system that is user-friendly from the first launch. The initial setup of an Android TV is trivial. During the first start, the Android TV system on the TV set can be configured almost fully automatically using ... your own Android smartphone or using any type of computer (both stationary and laptop). Just visit the website android.com/tv/setup and then enter the unique code displayed on the screen of the TV set we are configuring. And that's it. Yes, it's not a joke. That's all we have to do for the TV to fully automatically connect to our home WiFi network, log in to our Google account and immediately "know" what our favorite videos on Youtube are, what we've been looking for recently on Google Maps or in a search engine Google.

Each Android TV, when first turned on and set up, gives you access not only to classic TV channels, but also to a wide range of popular online streaming services. Well-known from smartphones and tablets, Netflix, Spotify, Google Movies or the Google Store with applications are immediately available on the TV with Android TV. The mere fact that the TV uses Android TV means that the user has access to a very rich database of applications. The initial setup of the Android TV with our Google account and smartphone has another advantage. On the TV, we can use an intelligent helper - the Google Assistant. This takes the level of comfort of using the TV to a whole new level.

Android TV with Google Assistant is… more than just a TV

The TV has long been used not only for watching TV. Since the appearance of the first smart TVs, the user has been able to use online services directly via a large screen in the living room, without having to use a computer for this purpose. However, movies and series from streaming services or a huge database of interesting clips on YouTube - the world's largest video site, are one thing. Toshiba/Vestel TVs with Android TV and the Google Assistant become intelligent home helpers. The TV can not only give us practically any audiovisual content, but thanks to the Google Assistant it becomes a window to the world - let's add, a really big window.

Google Assistant on Android TV - how can it help?

The range of situations in which the Google Assistant on an Android TV can be useful is enormous. Thanks to the Assistant, we can ask the TV, for example, about the weather (not only local, but anywhere in the world), what pizzeria we can find nearby, about the opening hours of various types of shops, service outlets or shopping malls.

There's so much more. For example, when going to work in the morning and watching the news on the TV, we can ask about the traffic on the way to work. The TV with the Google Assistant will also take care of our errands, remember important events or remind about duties. The Google Assistant will also check the timetable, verify that your flight is not delayed and much more.

It is true that we travel less now - for obvious reasons, but the Google Assistant, having behind it the entire giant Google search engine database, is able to find and present on the TV screen virtually any information. You can ask anything. E.g. "What does a passion flower look like?" – The Google Assistant will helpfully show you a picture of this plant on your Android TV screen. How to remove wine stains on carpet? – you will receive a number of tips and videos that will help you deal with a minor problem. Do you want atmospheric music in the living room? All you have to do is ask the assistant by saying, for example, "Turn on jazz".

An assistant can also be a great helper when spending time with children. We can ask him to show, for example, what a giraffe looks like, what cats like and much more. Try, for example, "Let's play something. Ask me something". Also this time the Assistant will surprise you. Want to cheer yourself up? Tell the Assistant "Tell me a joke." Admittedly, in our opinion, Google Assistant jokes are rather stale, but they are. Anyway, the mere fact that the TV tells a joke will bring a smile to many faces.

Makes your TV easier to use

Of course, the Google Assistant will also make it easier for you to enjoy various types of audiovisual content. For example, instead of launching a streaming app like Netflix and then manually searching for your favorite series, all you have to do is tell the Assistant: "Play Stranger Things on Netflix." And done. Of course, the Assistant will also make it easier to control the TV - it will correctly respond to commands such as "stop playing" or "louder" or "quieter" and much, much more.

A particularly important advantage of the Google Assistant is that it can do much more than a classic online search engine. Want to find a specific movie? You would have to use the exact title in the search engine. The Google Assistant is all it takes is any association. Can't remember the name of the movie, but remember that it's last year's action movie and it's starring your favorite actor? All you have to do is ask the Assistant to show you an action movie from last year, in which such-and-such an actor plays. We bet that the very first hint of the Google Assistant will be what you are looking for.

Using Google Assistant and Voice Commands on Toshiba TVs with Android TV

Toshiba TVs can be operated with support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice assistants. In the case of the former, an external Echo Dot device is necessary and we send commands to it. In the case of the Google Assistant, we use the TV remote. How to start?

The option to use the microphone and voice assistant should be enabled by default after the correct startup configuration of the TV. It is at this stage that we should allow access to the microphone and log in to our Google account. To make sure everything works, follow these steps:

1. Access the settings by clicking the gear icon in the upper right corner of the main screen

2. Go to the Device Settings section

3. Go to the Google Assistant section

4. The Assistant settings will appear for us, if we are logged in to our Google account, everything should work correctly

5. Now all you have to do is press the colored microphone button on the remote control

6. We can say commands like:

- What's the weather like

- Who is the president of the USA

- Open YouTube

- Find a Tom Hanks movie

- When is Madonna's birthday

In the future, it will also be possible to control other elements of our home from the level of the Google assistant on the TV.

Why is it worth it?

Voice communication is the most natural and oldest form of communication of our species. It is the most understandable and the most intuitive for us. No graphical interface or the most ergonomic remote control can replace a simple sentence or question spoken in natural language. In the era of the development of artificial intelligences found in various types of consumer electronics devices, including televisions, the saying "the end of the tongue for a guide" has taken on a new meaning. Speech means the liquidation of any technological barrier. If it is enough to simply say what is expected, the question of "how is it controlled?" she lost her place. And this is the greatest strength of the Google Assistant. The TV has become a device for everyone.