How To Turn Your Old Cell Phone Into A Google Home



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Intelligent loudspeakers have hit the market to make our day-to-day life easier, but at the moment, their price does not make them accessible to everyone. The solution? Surely you have an old cell phone at home that you do not use anymore, so read carefully, because we explain to you how to convert your old smartphone into a Google Home.

Before you start work, the basics: What do you need? Just two things, a loudspeaker and a cell phone. The first one has few requirements, in fact, it is enough for it to work, regardless of whether it is done via Bluetooth or cable. If you can choose, always choose the latter, since the former usually disconnect if they do not detect activity for a period of time.

In the case of the phone, it must be compatible with Google Assistant, so must have at least Android Marshmallow to be able to work. In addition, you'll need 1.5 GB of free space on your phone and a screen with a resolution of 720 pixels.

Getting Started with Google Assistant

Google Home Intelligent Speaker 2

As we anticipated, In order for your phone to function as a smart speaker, it must be compatible with Google Assistant. To check, you have two options: download it on Google Play or keep the Home button pressed for a few minutes. If it is, the wizard will start automatically and it will suffice to say "OK, Google" to start working with it.

Google Home

It's time to set up Google Assistant. Go to Settings> Google and click "Search, Wizard, and Voice." There you will have to select "Voice Match" and access the wizard to configure "Ok Google" detection and save your voice so the wizard recognizes and can follow your orders. When this is done, select the "hands-free" mode and activate the wizard for Bluetooth and wired devices.

Google Home Settings Wizard 1

Connect your phone and the speaker

Remember that for everything to work properly, your phone must always be aware of your voice commands. To do this, go to Settings> Google> Search, wizard, and voice> Voice. Turn on options to sign in with Voice Match and unlock your phone by saying "OK, Google."

So far, the basics to give orders to your cell phone, but to consider it a Google Home to use, you must connect it to your conventional speaker. To do this, it will be enough for you to do this via Bluetooth or through a cable.

Ready? You've already created your smart home speaker. Now you just left pair it with the smart devices you have at home so you can interact with it fully. So, in addition to answering questions about time or traffic, you can ask them to dim the lights in your house or turn on the heating at a certain time.

No microphones and always connected

Woman talking microphone

Probably the main problem detected in your home on Google Home is the quality in voice detection. While Google's loudspeaker has noise canceling technology and high-quality microphones capable of hearing our voice in adverse circumstances, cell phones are pretty lagging behind in that regard.

In addition, you should take into account that both the cell phone and the speaker must remain connected to the mains all the time and the latter should also have the "Auto Power Off" option disabled. Only then will the phone be ready to listen to you at any time and the speaker will be ready to play the sound.

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