
Ask HN: To people who own smart assistants, how often do you use it? - sumitsrivastava
Is it like the way iPhone was used (high usage) or the way VR headsets are used (low usage)?<p>There&#x27;s a reason iPhone grew and VR headsets didn&#x27;t, as of now.
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nataz
Multiple times per day.

For input devices I have a Google home, mini, 2x Chromecast and a pixel 3 xl.

When I'm ironing my clothes in the morning/brushing my teeth/generally getting
ready I ask Google home about about the weather, and have it play some music
on Spotify.

When I get in my car, my phone auto connects to Bluetooth, and it
automatically keeps playing my music, or I ask it to open pocketcast and play
a podcast.

As I pull out of my driveway I ask it to navigate to work. I have three equal
distance routes, but live traffic updates to route around accidents is super
useful.

After work, I get in my car, auto connects to Bluetooth, and I have it text my
wife that I'm on my way home.

Ask it to navigate home, again taking advantage of live traffic updates.

When I'm home in the evening I'll use it to set a timer while cooking, play
music, control/play Netflix or YouTube red.

I'll also use it to control the lights (I use hue bulbs throughout the house).

When I head to bed I have it turn off the lights downstairs, and turn on the
lights in my spare bedroom so I can set my things out for the next day. Then I
have it turn off all the lights except for the outdoor ones.

Basically it's a hands free input tool. Because I have a pixel, Chromecast,
and home, etc., they all work pretty smoothly together.

I like how the Chromecast combined with a home can turn on the TV, open an app
(Netflix/Spotify/YouTube) and play specific media without a remote or pressing
any buttons.

The pixel in the car is amazing for directions, making phone calls/sending
(but not receiving) texts.

I like how I can be anywhere in the house and control music and video via my
voice.

Its nice that the different input devices do pretty well with figuring out
which one is closest to you to preform the action you are trying to complete.
For instance even though multiple devices in different rooms may hear me from
the living room, it will be the living room home that open Netflix on my
living room TV.

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deuslovult
I have a couple Google Home mini's in my apartment, an android TV, and almost
all of my lights are Phillips Hue. I use the assistant constantly to turn
on/off lights, change colors, dim them, play things on the TV, etc. Very high
usage.

I think using the assistant for things like calendar, weather, traffic, calls,
etc is more difficult than just using a phone.

But being able to turn off all the lights in my apartment when I'm ready to go
to bed by just saying "lights off" is really nice.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
Lights off: probably the most common use case for everyone.

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csixty4
Way less than I used to. The big deal breaker for me was Amazon no longer
letting you upload your own music, meaning Alexa can't play my obscure CD rips
from the 90s and my Bandcamp purchases from today. So I really only use it to
check on Amazon orders, reorder stuff, add to my Out of Milk shopping list,
start timers, or check the weather -- all things that are almost faster to
just do on my phone. But I work remotely and I like having someone to talk to.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
The last line you wrote hurt. You might want to try Wakie, a YC alumni
startup.

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thatoneuser
Have a couple lying in a drawer. I've never found them to be worth the effort
let alone the cost. Majority of questions you ask are "hmm idk". Functionality
is very limited unless you've also invested in smart home devices. And at that
point it's like how much effort do I save to turn off the lights by voice
rather than walking 5 feet.

Idk. To me it seems like a high level gimmick the tech giants used to make
another billion. More hype than value.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
Probably the most common use case is a smart home.

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mrburton
I use my smart assistant for a lot of one off tasks, but I realized
something.. when I head out, I have a routine I do daily and it can be
automated. e.g., What's the weather? Order Lyft to Red Rock, and turn off the
lights. I should set this up in one command.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
You really should, or I can do it for you!

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kingkool68
I use my Google Home mini and Home Hub every day to ask for the weather and
set timers to alert the kids that it's bed time. We use them to play songs and
my 4 year old asks Google questions about Spanish words every other day.
They're neat to have around.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
Songs are a pretty nice functionality.

I guess that can be done on non smart speakers too.

The alert thing is really cool! A unique way to handle kids.

~~~
kingkool68
Totally. I'm not the bad guy but the alarm is. Putting on the cleanup song
helps cleaning up go faster.

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Spooky23
We use the home pod for music and light control. I had the cheaper versions of
the Google and Amazon asssitsnts, and gave up on them after a few weeks. Just
didn’t do anything useful for us.

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BenMorganIO
I do three things:

1\. OK Google, what's the temperature outside? 2\. OK Google, turn off all the
lights. 3\. OK Google, turn on all the lights.

If I don't say all, it turns three lights on instead of 8.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
Why do you check for temperature, rather than weather?

Does it help knowing the changes in temperature outside?

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zingermc
You can tell if it's raining by looking out the window, but you can't really
see the temperature.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
Does it really help knowing the temperature?

I can take an umbrella if it'll rain soon but what can I do by knowing that
temperature will rise by 1°C in two hours?

Genuinely curious.

~~~
NullPrefix
Do I put on my coat or go out in a t shirt.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
Oh, a cold climate thing.

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PerfectElement
I have several Google Home minis and use them several times per day to check
the weather, play music and podcasts, set timers while cooking, add things to
my grocery list (my favorite feature), turn off the lights, ask for directions
when driving (android auto).

Another neat feature is the "play latest news" to have it play the latest
hourly news from NPR, Bloomberg, CBC or whatever you set it up with.

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Paraesthetic
I have a Harmon Kardon Invoke (Cortana), I use it almost exclusively for
playing music from spotify, telling me what time it is when I'm sleeping and I
dont want to open my eyes, and setting alarms. Occasionally for movie trivia
games or turning off my tv.

~~~
sumitsrivastava
Interaction while sleeping. Whoa that's an awesome usecase.

Makes me wonder, what else one might want while sleeping?

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thefounder
Only in the car to get directions and weather info.

