Waking up to the same boring alarm sound every morning can get old fast. Luckily, if you have a Google Home smart speaker or display, it’s easy to customize your alarm tone to make your wake-up experience a bit more pleasant. Whether you want to rise to your favorite song, radio station, or even the voice of a beloved character, you can set it up in just a few steps using the Google Home app. Here’s how.
1. Setting a Music Alarm
To wake up to a specific song, artist, genre or playlist, start by linking your preferred music service to your Google account in the Home app. Then follow these steps:
- Say “Hey Google, set a [song/artist/genre/playlist] alarm for [time] tomorrow.” For example, “Hey Google, set a Beatles alarm for 7am tomorrow.”
- Google will confirm the alarm and pull the audio from your default linked music service.
- When the alarm goes off, your chosen music will play instead of the standard alarm tone.
Some other examples of music alarm commands:
- “Hey Google, set Beyonce music alarm for 6:30am every weekday”
- “OK Google, set 80s pop radio alarm for 8am this Friday”
Note: If you don’t have a music service linked or your Google Home is offline, the standard beeping alarm sound will play instead.
2. Using Character Alarms
You can also set alarms featuring the voices of popular cartoon and kids’ show characters. Some current options include:
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Lego Friends
- Hatchimals
- Nickelodeon’s Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
To set a character alarm, say something like:
- “Hey Google, set a Michelangelo alarm for 7am every day”
- “OK Google, set an April O’Neil alarm for 6:45am weekdays”
Google may add or remove available characters over time, so check their support pages for an updated list.
3. Managing Alarms in the Google Home App
In addition to setting alarms with voice commands, you can view, edit and delete your existing alarms in the Google Home app:
- Open the Google Home app and tap on your speaker/display.
- Tap the Settings cog, then go to Audio > Alarms & timers.
- From here you’ll see a list of all active alarms on that device.
- To delete an alarm, tap the X next to it. There’s no way to edit an existing alarm, but you can always delete it and create a new one.
Adjusting Alarm Volume
If you need to make your alarm quieter or louder, you can adjust the alarm volume separately from your normal speaker volume. Here’s how:
- Open the Google Home app and select your device.
- Tap Settings > Audio > Alarms & timers.
- Use the slider to turn the volume up or down.
- Close the app. Your new alarm volume will take effect immediately.
4. Canceling an Alarm
If you ever need to cancel an alarm you’ve set, you can do it with a voice command or through the app.
To cancel with your voice, say “Hey/OK Google, cancel my [time/name] alarm.” For example:
- “Hey Google, cancel my 7am alarm”
- “OK Google, cancel my Beyonce alarm”
To cancel an alarm in the app, just go to the Alarms & timers section as described above and tap the X next to the one you want to delete. Google will confirm the cancellation.
Troubleshooting
If your music alarm doesn’t go off, here are a few things to check:
- Make sure your Google Home is connected to WiFi and linked to your Google account.
- Check that you have set up a default music service in the Google Home app and that your account is linked.
- Verify the alarm is still active in your Alarms & timers list. It’s possible you (or someone else) deleted it accidentally.
- Confirm the alarm volume is turned up in your device settings.
If all else fails, try deleting the alarm and re-creating it from scratch.
Conclusion
With the Google Home app and a compatible smart speaker or display, you can make your mornings a bit brighter by customizing your alarm tones. Wake up to a favorite song, a peppy radio station, or even a message from a cartoon character – the choice is yours! Just follow the steps outlined here to get started.
While you can’t upload your own audio files to use as alarms, Google provides a good variety of built-in options to choose from. And the best part is, you can set and manage everything hands-free with just your voice. So go ahead and give it a try – you may be surprised what a difference it makes in starting your day off right.
Leave a Reply