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Android will automatically turn on your lights when you turn off your alarm

Google announces two new features especially for phones.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
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Jessica Dolcourt
2 min read
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Your morning alarm sounds. You grope around to turn it off, moan into your pillow and sluggishly begin your daily routine. But maybe not for long. A new  Google Assistant  trick, rolling out now to Android phones, can automatically turn on your bedroom lights, read out the weather and news, and even start brewing your morning coffee without you sleep-slurring a command or lifting your finger. (There are some conditions -- keep reading.)

This series of events, or one like it, is something you'll be able to customize through a new menu item in the clock app on any Android phone once the rollout's complete. When you go to set your alarm, you'll see a new option for Google Assistant Routine. From here, you can set up over a dozen different scenarios that kick into action the moment you dismiss your alarm. Don't worry, you'll still be able to press Snooze!

5 new Google Assistant actions for your home and phone

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For example, you can program Google Assistant to report on your commute as you struggle out of bed, and turn up the temperature. You can also ask it to play a podcast when you first wake, or perhaps some music. Of course, you have to have Google Assistant-compatible lights, thermostat and coffee maker to use some of these routines, and you can find and adjust them all from submenus within the Clock app.

Google Assistant routines are rolling out now for Android phones with:

Google Assistant's second new trick, currently only for Pixel 3 phones, is all about quiet. You can already set Do Not Disturb to mute incoming calls and alerts, or even to schedule some recurring off-limits hours. But soon, you'll be able to speak the command to a compatible smart speaker to turn your phone to this DND mode. You can simply say, "Hey, Google, silence my phone."

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The rollout will only apply Do Not Disturb to one Pixel 3 at a time. So for example, if you've programmed the smart speaker or smart display to recognize multiple family members, you're only silencing your device, not theirs.

First published Nov. 14 at 6 a.m. PT.
Update, 1:06 p.m.: Corrected the availability of the Clock routine feature. It's currently rolling out, and is not available to all phones now.
Update, 2:34 p.m.: Adds more details about which phones support the Google Assistant subroutine.

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