If you’ve never tried Voice Actions for Android you really need to give it a shot. I’d tried this once in the past and had less than stellar results. Either Google has REALLY updated this since I first gave it a shot or I was doing something wrong in the past.

Thanks to advances in mobile technology, smartphones are now more like mini portable computers. They now combine the functionalities of a handheld computer, music player, notepad, GPS navigation unit and more. Even though our phones do all these new things, the most natural way of interacting with a phone remains what it always has been: speaking. I’ve always found talking into my computer to be odd (like when Dragon Dictate was all the rage back in the day). However, Voice Actions are awesome if for no other reason than they allow you to keep your eyes on the road and still perform actions on your phone while driving.

To use Voice Actions, tap the microphone button on the Google search box on your home screen, or press down for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the “Speak Now” screen.

Speak any of these commands to perform a Voice Action on your phone:

• send text to [contact] [message]
• listen to [artist/song/album]
• call [business]
• call [contact]
• send email to [contact] [message]
• go to [website]
• note to self [note]
• navigate to [location/business name]
• directions to [location/business name]
• map of [location]

Of course you can also do a Google search using your voice.

Examples of Android Voice Action Commands In Action

• Send text messages
  Say “send text to [recipient] [message]*”
  e.g. “send text to John Lennon Running behind. I will be meet you around 8?
• Get directions
  Say “navigate to [address/city/business name]”
  e.g. “navigate to the Saint Louis Arch” or “navigate to 14 Market St.”
• Call businesses
  Say “call [business name] [location]*”
  e.g. “call Tony’s restaurant Saint Louis”
• Send email
  Say “send email to [recipient] [subject]* [body]*”
  e.g. “send email to Edward Norton How’s that new movie coming along? The weather’s rainy here in Saint Louis.”
• Call contacts
  Say “call [contact name] [phone type]*”
  e.g. “call James Belushi mobile”
• View a map
  Say “map of [address/city]”
  e.g. “map of Chicago”
• Write a note
  Say “note to self [message]”
  e.g. “note to self grocery list bread milk eggs coffee”
• Search Google
  Say “[your query]”
  e.g. “pictures of dogs with ears up”
• Go to websites
  Say “go to [website]
  e.g. “go to Twitter”
• Listen to music
  Say “listen to [artist/song/album]”
  e.g. “listen to take that and daft punk”