Chevy Equinox EV Forum banner

Voice Commands List

8.8K views 51 replies 18 participants last post by  DarkDan72  
#1 ·
Greetings All:

Does anyone know if there is a comprehensive list of Voice Commands for the Equinox EV?

REH
 
#2 · (Edited)
oes anyone know if there is a comprehensive list of Voice Commands for the Equinox EV?
No, but it's a nice idea. So, we'll start a list here and I'll update it as time goes by and people post their discoveries.

Post Voice Commands you use.
  1. Post the name of the function (like "Maps"),
  2. the feature being controlled (like add a destination) and
  3. the command to use (like "Hey Google <business name, city>"
====================================
How should you talk to Google Assistant (aka, the voice command system)?
See OM p.133, 134 for more details on using commands. I just talk to it normally/naturally. For example, I can say "Hey Google, Map", or I can say "Hey Google, open Map" or "Hey google, show me Map" or "Hey Google, show Map". So it's more flexible that memorizing commands. That said, if I use "Maps" instead of "Map" it doesn't understand. Go figure.

When Maps is open, I can say. "Hey Google <business name, city>" and it will pop it on the map, or I can say "Hey Google, add destination <business name, city>"
====================================
Here we go.
  • Assume all commands start with, "Hey Google" or “OK Google” to activate voice recognition. Alternatively, quickly press and release <face talking icon> on the steering wheel controls, or touch Google Assistant on the infotainment home screen. Note: Google Assistant must be set as the Default Assistant.
  • Press <phone hangup icon> on the steering wheel controls to cancel the Google Assistant request, or say "Hey/OK Google, Cancel".

Audible App
Turn it on
"Open Audible" opens the Audible App.

Camera App
See surround view
"Open Camera app."

Charging App
Battery Level
"What's the battery level" displays the current battery level in %. Kind of useful on DIC configurations that don't show the percentage.

General Info
You can ask for numerous conversions of units, random facts, or things like that. Natural language queries connected to the internet are very powerful, and while the car hobbles some of the "fun" queries, you can still do many things.
  • "What is 300kpa in PSI?"
  • "What time does the Home Depot on Main Street close?"
  • "Tell me a poem", "rap for me", or "tell me a joke" for a mild diversion.
  • "Compare yourself to Siri."
  • "Will you marry me?"
  • "Do a barrel roll" (not as complete as the browser version).
  • "What sound does a chicken make?"
  • "who let the dogs out?"
  • "Joke of the day"
Hidden Audio Settings
"Audio settings" displays a hidden menu where you can change several volume sliders by tapping (not sliding). There are also 4 unmarked sliders. What they control is a secret as they are not named.
"Show me sound settings" , "Show Audio settings" also work.
"Adjust Sound" brings up sound adjustments for ring and alert tone selection, system alerts, and volume, including navigation volume.

HVAC
Air Conditioning
“Turn on the A/C”

Change Cabin air temp
"Set temperature to <number>"
“Set temperature to <desired number> degrees”
"Increase temperature by x degrees"

Defrost
"Turn on Rear DEfroster"
"Turn on the front DEfroster"

Seat
"Turn on Seat Heater"
"Turn on passenger Seat Heater"

Steering Wheel
"Turn on steering wheel heater"
"Turn on steering heater"

Map App
Bring Maps app onto screen
"Map" (What I say)

Add a destination:
"<business name, city>"
“Navigate to <destination address>”
“Add <destination> on my way”
“Take me home” (uses Home location set in Google maps.)
"Find McDonalds near me."
"Show chargers along my route"

Local attractions
"Are there any good pizza joints nearby?"
“Find a <Place of Interest>”

Recenter
"Recenter Map"

Offroad App
See car direction, g-force, car tilt
"Open the off-road app" displays this Easter Egg detailed in another thread

Personal Calendar
Appointments
"Do I have any appointments today?" accesses your personal calander.

Add Calendar Event
"Create calender event"
What's the title of the event?
"Check my supply of square tubing"​
When is it?"
-"Friday"​
At what time?
"11:30am"​
Alright, creating a calendar event Check my supply of square tubing for Friday at 11:30am to 12:30 am.
Do you want to save it?
"Yes"​

Phone Calls, Texts initiate cell phone contacts. Make sure the phone is paired using Bluetooth
Call someone
"Call Jennifer"
“Call < phone number>”
"Text Bill"
“Send a message to <contact name>”

Radio App
Change Station
"<station number>"
“Play <AM frequency> AM"
“Play <FM frequency> FM” (like “one oh one point one”)
“Play channel <SiriusXM channel number> on SiriusXM”
“Play <SiriusXM channel name> on Sirius XM”

Radio Off
"Turn volume off" or "Turn volume to 0%"

Change volume
"Increase volume"
"Turn volume to 50%"

Media Source
“Play <Media> on <Audio Source>” (Play media like a song or channel using a specified audio source such as Pandora or Spotify.. See Spotify example below)

Spotify App
Song selection
"Play 'Little Lion Man' by Mumford and Sons on Spotify" (plays on Spotify only if you are explicit). "Play 'New Orleans is Sinking' by the Tragically Hip (plays on YouTube Music by default, or switches to a radio station if not installed).

YouTube App
Open
Fun observation: "Open YouTube" gives a special response that says Google can't open YouTube while driving. Unfortunately, it's the same response you get when in Park.

Weather
Forecast
"Is it going to rain today?"
 
#3 ·
No, but it's a nice idea.

I just talk to it normally. For example, you can say "Hey Google, Maps", or you could say "Hey Google, open Map" or "Hey google, show me Map" or "Hey Google, show Map". So it's more flexible that memorizing commands. That said, if I uses "maps" instead of "Map" it doesn't understand.

Rather than a list of commands, a list of actions might be helpful?

When Maps is open, I can say. "Hey Google <business name, city>" and it will pop it on the map, or I can say "Hey Google, add destination <business name, city>"

You can also turn HVAC up or down, turn on the radio, adjust volume.

The OM has more ideas on p.133, 134.
Can google turn on/off parking lights? Or just app driven functions?
 
#5 · (Edited)
personally tested in the car (preface with "Hey Google", or just press the Google Assistant button (my preference)):

State of Charge/Charging
Battery Level
"What's the battery level" reports the current battery level in %. Kind of useful on DIC configurations that don't show the percentage. Actually, "Battery Level" is enough to make it work. "What's my state of charge?" gives a technical description of what state of charge is instead of your actual state of charge.
"What's my remaining range" reports your estimated mileage remaining

Map/Navigation
Local attractions
"Are there any good pizza joints nearby?" You can even refine it after it gives you results: "I prefer one in Anytown" or "I prefer one closer to work".
"Open the map app" puts the maps on the screen
Get directions to a location:
"Navigate to the Post Office" will probably have it ask you to specify which one
"Let's go to the Elephant Bar" to navigate to a (sadly) defunct restaurant
"Driving directions to the intersection of Main and 1st St"
"How do I get to the library?"
"Directions to Tony's house" will pull Tony's address from your list of contacts (assuming you have a friend named Tony, and don't we all?)
"Avoid tolls" prefers non-toll roads
"Add a stop to my route" allows you to insert an intermediate stop in front of your current destination
"When will I reach/how much battery will I have at [my destination]"

HVAC
"Set climate system to Auto"
"Raise/Lower the Driver/Passenger temperature"
"Set Driver/Passenger/Rear Heated/Ventilated seats to Off/Low/Medium/High"
"Turn on the Front/Rear Defroster"
"Turn on/off recirculation"

Offroad
See direction, g-force, car tilt
"Open the off-road app" displays the Easter Egg detailed in another thread

Weather
Forecast/current conditions
"Is it going to rain today?", "What's the temperature at work?"

General Info
Unit conversions
"What is 300kpa in PSI?" This is handy for me because I'm in Canada, and the car is in metric, but when it comes to tire pressure I still "think" PSI.
You can ask for numerous conversions of units, ask Google to do arithmetic, ask for random facts about WWII, or things like that.
"What time does the Home Depot on Main Street close?" and it'll pull that info from the website for that store.
Try "Read me a poem", "rap for me", or "tell me a joke" for a mild diversion. Ask google to compare itself to Siri. Ask google to marry you. Ask google to do a "barrel roll" (not as complete as the browser version). Ask google "what sound does a chicken make". Ask google "who let the dogs out?". Ask google "Who am I?", "What is the meaning of life?" or "what time is it in Rochester?"

Natural language queries connected to the internet are very powerful, and while the car hobbles some of the "fun" queries, you can still do many things.

Music
Song and source selection
"Play 'Little Lion Man' by Mumford and Sons on Spotify" (plays the specified song on Spotify only if you are explicit about using Spotify).
"Play 'New Orleans is Sinking' by the Tragically Hip (plays on YouTube Music by default, or switches to a radio station if YTM is not installed).
"Raise/Lower the volume" also works
"Tune radio to 101.9" might tune you to WKRP
"Switch audio to XM radio"
"[play] next/previous [song/track]" Fun fact: turns out you can just say "next/previous"

Installed Apps
Open/control apps
"Open Audible" opens the Audible App.
"Play 'Alcatraz' in/on Audible" switches to Audible if necessary and plays the title specified.
Fun observation: "Open YouTube" gives a special response that says Google can't open YouTube while driving. Unfortunately, it's the same response you get when in not driving/in Park.

"Open camera app"

Phone Calls
Call someone, message someone
"Call Jennifer". "Text Bill". both initiate cell phone contacts
"Read messages" reads unread SMS messages. I believe it can also summarize long messages, but I just listen to the long version.

Personal Calendar
Appointments
"Do I have any appointments today?" accesses your personal calendar.

Smart Home
"What is the temperature in the kitchen?"
"Set the den to 24 degress Celcius" both of these work with my connected Sinobe Thermostats. No doubt there are a million different smart things available that are Google connected that can be queried/controlled.
So far, I have not been able to use voice commands to activate the universal remote functions.


PS Thanks for the tune-up, Steverino!
 
#6 ·
I hate voice commands, but I think one of the most useful functions for a voice command is getting the defogger turned on when you’re driving in crappy conditions struggling to see the road as the windshield starts fogging up. With most current vehicle interior designs (especially those without physical buttons) you have to look inside, find the button, reach across a dark interior and attempt to press the right button, then check an indicator to see if it actually turned on, then maybe repeat and turn off the thing you accidentally turned on. Just telling the car to turn it on is definitely a beneficial feature you didn’t know you needed, until you do.
[this account taken from a vehicle that should be able to do this, but can’t]
 
#8 ·
None that worked in the car I needed it in (I had an exhaustive list of combinations of words that didn’t work). The account is provided so someone with an Equinox EV that agrees it is something to figure out before you actually need it, can provide the correct words to use (the topic at hand). GM and Google should be providing a list, but as in the “other car” the manufacturer doesn’t even know what commands their own product supports. So it’s a fantastic idea to start building a finite list in this forum as a user reference.
 
#10 ·
Camera
See surround view
Open Camera app.

HVAC
Defrost
Turn on Rear Defroster

"Turn on front DEfroster" or "Turn on Windshield DEfroster" don't seem to work.
 
#11 ·
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: lkstrouf and jg.
#25 ·
Any idea how to actually send ideas for voice commands? One command that is essential to have that isn't there is to allow turn on of headlights by voice command. Its not uncommon to run into a snow squall or some rain or other poor visibility that doesn't trigger the automatic headlights to come on, and you need to do that while driving. In my state, if it starts to rain you are required to turn on the headlights! To turn on the headlights when auto on doesn't turn them on, you have to push on the headlight symbol on the infotainment screen, then lean to the right to see the options displayed (visibility of the options is blocked by the steering wheel) and then press the correct option to turn on the headlights, and do that pretty quickly before the pull down menu times out and vanishes. When you lean to the right, odds are good the car will drift to the right. A definite safety concern!
 
#15 ·
Anyone know a command to switch which BT phone is connected? It’s a LOT of taps to change from one phone to another (and then they ask you to confirm you really want to…like the 5 taps you already did weren’t confirmation enough!)

I’ve tried “hey Google change phone to <name>” and “hey Google Bluetooth connection to <name>” and a few other versions of these (like using “switch” instead of “change”). No dice
 
#16 ·
Another command:

"[Hey google] create calender event"

"What's the title of the event?"

"Check my supply of square tubing"

"When is it?"

"Friday"

"At what time?"

"
11:30am"

"Alright, creating a calender event Check my supply of square tubing for Friday at 11:30am to 12:30 am. Do you want to save it?"

"Yes"


Saved correctly to my calender. :cool:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steverino
#19 ·
the only one i've found thats not on here is

"re-centre map" for after I've used my finger to drag it around or zoom in on traffic etc.. the recentre button is right behind my phone mount, so thats why i figured out the voice command

I've tried many variations of command for zoom in or zoom out and cant get it to work. it doesnt reply " i dont understand, or i cant do it" , just nothing happens.
 
#21 ·
I don't remember who posted it here first, but I'm adding this to the voice command list:

Hey Google, Adjust Sound

This brings up the standard Android sound adjustments that gives you access to ring and alert tone selection, allows adjustments for system alerts, and volume, to include the navigation volume feature.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Beac and GaryM
#24 ·
  • Like
Reactions: obermd
#35 ·
"Hey google, turn my headlights on"
Yes. Turning the headlights on is a hazard to do when the car is in motion!
I never need to do this, I have the car set to have lights on. I don't have to think about it, ever. I see too many cars at dusk/dawn/night driving with headlights off because the driver forgot to turn them on. That's a bigger safety hazard IMO.

Why the desire to manually turn lights off/on Roy, Cassio? The LED's should last the life of the car.
 
#38 ·
Agree, dusk / dawn are definitely a safety hazard, always want lights on at that time. I always leave my lights set to Auto. But there are times where the lights do not come on automatically and I want them on. At least on my car, my lights seem to take longer to come on at dusk than some other cars. Given my car is a silver color, I want the lights on around dusk for visibility, particularly other cars seeing me.

Also, in my state, lights must be on when wipers are in use. If I get a very light drizzle and turn my delay wipers on to the most delayed setting, it takes some time before the car will catch up and turn on the headlights, perhaps up to 3 minutes?

Another situation is snow. Might be bright enough to not trigger the auto headlamps to come on, but again would be good to have them on for visibility (others seeing me). Snow squalls happen in my part of the county, so could be driving along and hit one, would be nice to have a simple way to turn on the headlamps without having to fumble with awkwardly placed controls on the console.

Tunnels. Many tunnels have warning / instruction signs prior to entering the tunnel requiring drivers to turn on their headlamps. If it gets dark enough in the tunnel the Equinox will eventually turn the headlamps on, but later than if the driver turned them on prior to entering the tunnel as instructed.

I'm sure some others can suggest additional situations.

Light control is a touch screen item, so should be a simple item to have available via voice control to turn on the headlamps in those situations where the driver wants the headlamps on right now.
 
#37 ·
My lights come on automatically. Don't all the EQ EV do that?
Yes, unless you manually turn them off. Then you need to manually turn them on. In the old days, people wanted to avoid premature headlight burnout or energy draw. Again, the Equinox uses LED's that should last the life of the car and draw little from the battery.
 
#43 ·
When approaching a sentry or gate guard at a military installation it's necessary to turn off your headlamps. It's also curteous to do this when in a drive through. It sure would be great if there was a more convenient method of doing that than hoping I'm not accidentally turning something else off.
 
#46 ·
There is no command to "turn off headlights", so I tried to give you an alternative, working with what we have. I'm not sure why you say my suggestion of slowing down to turn off your lights seems unsafe, but if you prefer to continue doing at speed while "hoping I'm not accidentally turning something else off" then do that.

If you want to send GM a suggestion, do that. I'm not GM.
 
#48 ·
New EQEV owner here - my voice command abilities seem to be limited. I can change the volume, talk to the assistant, text, and ask for navigation to take me somewhere. However, otherwise asking google to show me any infotainment apps or information does not work. It's unable to show me the battery percentage, hidden menus, open the camera app, etc. Any ideas on a setting I may have missed? I've scoured the forum, as well settings in both the infotainment and my phone's google assistant.
 
#50 ·
I learned this week when I was tasked with some errands just AFTER I had picked up my large grocery run that when you ask google “turn up the rear fans” it will indeed turn off the eco settings and blast some cool air. Phew!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fred_Savage