Google Assistant and Tile just made finding your stuff a lot easier
Tile's Bluetooth item-tracking service now works seamlessly with Google Assistant, making it easy to find your stuff by asking aloud.
We've written about Tile before, and the company recently announced a couple of new trackers for sticking to your items or slipping into a wallet or purse.
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Now, Google Assistant integration means you can find these items by simply saying to an Assistant-enabled device: "Hey/Okay Google, find my [name of Tile]."
The system also works with Google Voice Match, so several members of the same family can say: "Hey Google, find my keys," and the Assistant will ring an alert on the Tile attached to the keys of the person speaking.
If the Tile is out of Bluetooth range (and therefore not in the home), Google Assistant will give the approximate street address of where that Tile was last spotted — in other words, when it was last connected to your phone via Bluetooth.
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What's also smart here is how you don't need to ask Google to speak to Tile to get things started. This differs to how Tile works with Alexa, where you need to say: "Alexa, ask Tile to ring my wallet," to get it working.
Naturally, there's only so much information a smart speaker can give about your lost item, so for adjusting any Tile settings, changing the names of your items, and looking at their location on a map you'll still want to use the Tile app for iOS and Android.
But for around the home we think Google Assistant integration is an excellent additional feature. It means you can ask your nearest speaker (or any device with the Assistant) to make your lost Tile ring. You could attach one of the new Tile Stickers to your TV remote, for example, then ask Google to sound the alert when you can't find it.
How to set up Tile with Google Assistant
- Open the Google Home app
- Tap on the + icon to add a device
- Tap on 'Set up device'
- Head to the Works with Google tab and tap 'Have something already set up?'
- Search for Tile and tap it
- Enter the email address and password you use for Tile
After this, your Tile and Google Home accounts will be linked. Now you can ask Google to ring any Tile, so long as it is within Bluetooth range of your smartphone.
Check out The GearBrain, our smart home compatibility checker to see the other compatible products that work with Google Assistant enabled devices.
