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Some of the best alternative ‘Hey Google’ hotwords for Google Home [Video]

The Google Home and Nest Home devices all activate from the “Hey Google” and “OK Google” commands but they can be a little hit and miss. But did you know that you can activate your Google Assistant with a number of weird and wonderful “Hey Google” alternatives?

One of the biggest frustrations with the Google Assistant hotword activation is that you can’t change it. Having to say “Hey Google” or “OK Google” is quite cumbersome — and pretty utilitarian. Hopefully, we’ll eventually get the ability to change or customize the activation hotword to whatever we want, but until that time we think you’ll be happy to settle for some of these weird and wonderful alternatives.

You might find some a little trickier than others but the secret sauce is to mimic the tone of “Hey Google” and most phrases within reason will activate the best voice assistant on the market. We’ve sifted through a ton to find the most commonly working phrases too — you may have some more of your own.

Some of the best “Hey Google” alternatives

  1. Okee Doodle / Hey Doodle
  2. OK Boo Boo / Hey Boo Boo
  3. OK Goo Goo / Hey Goo Goo
  4. Cocaine Poodle
  5. OK Strudel / Hey Strudel
  6. Hey Noodle / OK Noodle
  7. Egg Noodle
  8. Eggo Waffle
  9. OK Hugo / Hey Hugo
  10. OK Dougal / Hey Dougal
  11. OK Frugal / Hey Frugal
  12. Hey Googs
  13. OK Guuurrll
  14. OK Goku / Hey Goku
  15. Hey Nurgle
  16. Dis Google — was supposed to be deactivated as of July 2, 2019, but seems to work just fine.
  17. Say Google — works about 50% of the time

All of the phrases have been tested and are working on Google Home, Nest Hub, Nest Home, and smartphones — with and without Voice Match activated. If you have any funny, freaky or weird “Hey Google” alternatives of your own, be sure to let us know down in the comments section below — but please keep it clean!

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Avatar for Damien Wilde Damien Wilde

Damien is a UK-based video producer for 9to5Google. Find him on Twitter: @iamdamienwilde. Email: damien@9to5mac.com


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