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Google Now Gets Voice Toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, & Flashlight

Feb 20, 2015 09:56 PM

The biggest pet peeve of many Google Now users has always been the fact that you can't toggle basic system functions with voice commands. In fact, this was such an annoyance that folks even went so far as to apply root mods to get the functionality.

Well, we're happy to report that Google has finally integrated this functionality into Google Now. Voice commands are now capable of toggling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even the LED flashlight on Android 5.0 Lollipop devices.

No setup is required to access these features on your Lollipop device. Just say "Okay Google," followed by the command. "Turn off Wi-Fi" will disable your Wi-Fi radio, "Turn on flashlight" will fire up your LED torch, and so on.

Flashlight toggle interface on a smartphone.

Bluetooth settings menu on a mobile device.

Wi-Fi settings menu with a "Can't reach Google at the moment" message.

There's no word yet on when or if these commands will make their way to devices running KitKat or lower, but big thanks to Rita El Khoury of Android Police for discovering this new functionality.

Was this your only gripe with Google Now, or is there anything else you'd like to see added? Let us know in the comment section below, or drop us a line on Facebook, Google+, or Twitter

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