100 Best Google Assistant Actions: A Practical Legacy Guide

Ardelia Team · October 10, 2026 · 3 min read

For years, Google Assistant Actions described voice experiences that let people ask Assistant to perform tasks through Google and third-party services. That ecosystem included games, media services, smart-home controls, productivity tools, and branded voice apps. Google retired Conversational Actions in June 2023, so older roundups of named Actions can be misleading: a service listed in a historic article may no longer be available in the same form.

A more useful modern interpretation is a list of practical things to ask Google Assistant to do. Some requests below rely on built-in functions; others require a compatible device, a connected account, or a supported service. Exact wording, results, and availability can vary. For solo founders, the value is less about a novelty voice app and more about reducing small interruptions while moving between planning, operations, and personal commitments.

100 useful Google Assistant tasks

Planning and focus

1. Set a one-time reminder.
2. Create a recurring reminder.
3. Add an item to a task list.
4. Read today’s agenda.
5. Ask what is next on the calendar.
6. Create a calendar event.
7. Set a timer for focused work.
8. Start a stopwatch.
9. Set an alarm for a specific time.
10. Ask for a daily schedule summary.

Notes, calculations, and quick answers

1. Capture a short note by voice.
2. Spell a word.
3. Define a term.
4. Translate a phrase.
5. Convert currencies.
6. Convert measurements.
7. Calculate a percentage.
8. Ask for a tip calculation.
9. Ask for a unit price comparison.
10. Get the current time in another city.

News and research prompts

1. Hear a news briefing.
2. Ask for business headlines.
3. Ask for technology headlines.
4. Request weather conditions.
5. Ask for tomorrow’s forecast.
6. Check the chance of rain.
7. Ask when the sun rises or sets.
8. Look up a public holiday date.
9. Ask a factual reference question.
10. Request a summary of a sports score.

Travel and local errands

1. Ask about traffic to a destination.
2. Start navigation to an address.
3. Find nearby coffee shops.
4. Find nearby pharmacies.
5. Find nearby petrol stations.
6. Ask whether a business is open.
7. Search for a restaurant type.
8. Check a flight status where supported.
9. Ask for a route home.
10. Ask for public transit directions where supported.

Communication

1. Call a saved contact.
2. Call a business found in search.
3. Send a text message where supported.
4. Read recent messages where supported.
5. Broadcast a message to compatible home devices.
6. Make an announcement in a household group.
7. Start a video call on a compatible device.
8. Ask Assistant to dial a phone number.
9. Set a reminder to call someone.
10. Find a contact’s saved details.

Media and breaks

1. Play music by an artist.
2. Play a playlist from a linked music service.
3. Play a podcast episode.
4. Continue a podcast.
5. Play a radio station where supported.
6. Play ambient sounds.
7. Play white noise.
8. Set a sleep timer for audio.
9. Pause or resume playback.
10. Ask what song is playing.

Smart-home routines

1. Turn compatible lights on.
2. Turn lights off in a room.
3. Dim compatible lights.
4. Set a light color where supported.
5. Adjust a compatible thermostat.
6. Check a compatible thermostat’s temperature.
7. Lock a compatible smart lock.
8. Check a compatible doorbell camera.
9. Start a compatible robot vacuum.
10. Turn a compatible plug on or off.

Home organization

1. Add groceries to a shopping list.
2. Read a shopping list.
3. Add a household chore reminder.
4. Set a laundry timer.
5. Create a cooking timer.
6. Convert a recipe measurement.
7. Ask for a substitution idea.
8. Read a recipe step by step where supported.
9. Set a reminder to take something when leaving.
10. Set a reminder to buy something at a location.

Device controls

1. Turn Bluetooth on or off where supported.
2. Open a phone app by voice.
3. Turn on the flashlight where supported.
4. Adjust volume.
5. Ask a compatible display to show photos.
6. Cast media to a compatible screen.
7. Pause a compatible TV or speaker.
8. Ask a device to find your phone.
9. Check battery status where supported.
10. Set Do Not Disturb where supported.

Useful routines for founders

1. Create a morning briefing routine.
2. Create an end-of-day shutdown reminder.
3. Set a recurring weekly planning prompt.
4. Set a recurring invoice-review reminder.
5. Set a follow-up reminder after a meeting.
6. Create a commute routine.
7. Create a leaving-home routine.
8. Create an arriving-home routine.
9. Set a hydration reminder.
10. Set a break reminder between work blocks.

How to choose the most valuable ones

The best voice tasks are usually frequent, brief, and easy to verify. A timer, reminder, navigation request, or hands-free shopping-list addition tends to save more attention than a complicated, multi-step workflow. Start with tasks that already happen several times a week, especially those performed while cooking, walking, driving, or switching contexts.

Voice assistance works best as an interface for small decisions and routine handoffs, not as a substitute for reviewing important business information.

For business-sensitive work, use voice to capture the prompt—such as a follow-up reminder or a note to review a contract—then complete the substantive task in the system where records, permissions, and details can be checked. That division keeps the convenience of Assistant while preserving deliberate review for decisions that matter.

Before building a routine around any item in this list, confirm it on the specific phone, speaker, display, or smart-home device in use. Connected services can change their integrations, and organizational account settings may limit some features. The enduring lesson from the old Actions catalog is simple: the most useful assistant is the one that reliably removes a small piece of friction from the day.