Google Home alarm clock guide: Everything you need to know
Google Assistant speakers easily double up as amazing smart alarm clocks, which is ideal for those who want to consolidate the number of gadgets on their bedside table.
By setting up your Google device as a smart alarm clock, you give it the power to wake you up with news, music, or radio. You can also use it to build new morning and nighttime routines by pairing your alarm with playlists or smart lights – or perhaps with your coffee machine for those early starts.
Google Assistant smart speakers with displays, like the Nest Hub, of course, also feature dedicated clock displays with a range of digital faces to choose from. However, you can also choose to use a regular Google Home smart speaker, such as the Nest Home Mini.
Whatever Google Assistant speaker you choose from, below we’ll guide you in using your Google Home and Assistant to set new alarms.
(Image credit: The Ambient)
How to set an alarm on a Google speaker
This is super straightforward, but there are a couple of ways you can use the alarm function.
You can either set alarms ad-hoc, or you can set up recurring alarms for the likes of work or school days. Let’s cover both.
Set a one-time alarm through Google Assistant
Say, “Hey Google, set an alarm for 7.15 tomorrow morning” for a one-time alarm, and the Assistant will confirm the time with you.
You can name also name alarms. For example, you can say something like, “Hey Google, set an alarm for 9am named ‘take your pills’.
If you have a Google Home device with a display, you can also get a visual of what alarms are set by saying, “Hey Google, show me my alarms.”
That means you can say something along the lines of, “Hey Google, cancel my alarm for 7.30” or “Hey Google, cancel all my alarms”if you change your mind.
Set up a regular alarm through Google Assistant
To set up regular alarms, say, “Hey Google, set an alarm for 8.30am every day” or similar, and the Assistant will repeat back to you the recurring alarm.
Again, to check what you have coming up, say, “Hey Google, what alarms are set?”
If you’re groggy in the morning, you can ask, “Hey Google, what time is it?” and you can also say “Hey Google, snooze alarm” which pauses it for 10 minutes or, “Hey Google, snooze alarm for seven minutes” to specify the time.
The alarm sounds for ten minutes if you don’t do anything – to stop it say, “Hey Google, stop” or tap the top of the Google Home / Nest Audio, the side of the Mini, or the line on the top/right side of the Home Max.
Google Home alarms for kids
Google has also added interactive alarms for kids, giving users the ability to set up an alarm using messages from characters from Lego and Nickelodeon, instead of Assistant.
These alarms will have music, jokes, facts, words of encouragement, and other messages from characters in the shows.
For example, you can have one of the characters from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles help remind the kids it’s time to finish playing and get in the bath.
Just say, “Hey Google, set a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle alarm for 8pm.”
How to set a music or radio alarm with Google Assistant
If you want to wake up to a specific song or radio station, it’s simply a case of adding one more word to the command.
So, you can instruct your device, “Hey Google, play a music/media/radio alarm at 8.30am tomorrow” and the Assistant will ask you what you want it to play – or, alternatively, “Hey Google, set an alarm for 6am that plays [radio station name]”.
It works with songs, playlists, and radio stations. As with the beeping alarm, it will only play on the speaker you’ve set it on. The music will be taken from the default streaming service you’ve set up on your Google Home account, and, if you’re not connected to Wi-Fi, the regular alarm tone will sound.
Use the Google sleep timer and play bedtime sounds
Another simple one – you can ask Google Assistant to play ambient sounds or music and you can also set a sleep timer so it stops playing after a certain amount of time.
Try, “Hey Google, play ambient sounds/noise,” or, “Hey Google, play Mogwai for 20 minutes.”
You can also just say, “Hey Google, help me relax,” or, if you already have a playlist, podcast, or audiobook going, you can say, “Hey Google, stop in fifteen minutes,” and, “Hey Google, turn loop on” to loop the track till finish.
And there’s always, “Hey Google, tell me a story,” or, “Hey Google, sing me a lullaby” for maximum chill. Easy.
Create a Google Routine for mornings and evenings
Some pre-set Google Home Routines – multi-action, multi-device setups that require only one voice command – can be found within the Home app, and two of those are, “Hey Google, good morning” and, “Hey Google, it’s bedtime”.
If you’ve set up Voice Match, you can set up customized Routines for individual users. For the morning routine you could, for instance, have Assistant turn your Android phone off silent, play music/radio/news, tell you the weather and today’s commute and adjust smart home devices like lights and thermostats to pre-set settings.
This is obviously much friendlier to tweak from your bedside table if you’ve got a Google Smart Display, but it will work with any device with Assistant.
For the nighttime, you could have the Assistant set an alarm for the following morning, turn Cast-enabled or Bluetooth speakers and TVs volume down, adjust the lights and temperature to your personalized settings for bedtime, tell you tomorrow’s weather, and play sleep sounds or music on a timer, as above. Pretty cool, right?
How to set Gentle Sleep and Wake with Philips Hue
Another feature lets you bring your Philips Hue lights into your evening bedtime and morning wake-up routines, brightening or dimming the bulbs to ease you in and out of slumber.
The Gentle Sleep and Wake process will take place over 30 minutes to imitate sunrise and sunset.
To get it working, you’ll need to first get your Hue lights talking to the Google Assistant (read our guide on connecting Philips Hue to Google Home for more).
Then, to start the process for an entire room, say, “Ok Google, sleep my lights” or “Hey Google, wake my lights”when you’re in the same room as the lights.
If you’re in a different room, you’ll need to specify “Sleep the lights in [room name]”. You can also do it for a single light by simply saying “Sleep [light name]”.
And to sync it to your Google Home alarm, just say “Turn on Gentle Wake Up” if you’re in the same room, or “Turn on Gentle Wake Up in [room name]” if you’re elsewhere in the house.
You only need to do this once, after which it will be synced with your alarm.