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Control YouTube's live TV service with Google Home

Watch the baseball game without lifting a finger.

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

You can already use a Google Home speaker to control regular YouTube videos if you have a Chromecast device, but what about YouTube TV? You're set from now on. Google has enabled voice control over its cord-cutting television service from Home speakers, making it possible to change channels without touching your remote. You can ask Google Assistant to play a specific channel or show, and it's smart enough to recognize fuzzier requests. Tell it to "play the MLB game" and it'll switch to baseball without needing a specific channel or team, for instance.

Of course, this is only useful if you live in one of the major US cities where YouTube TV is available. Google is sweetening the pot a bit to get you onboard, though: it's running a "limited time" promo that gives you a free Chromecast if you're a new subscriber. That still means shelling out for a Home speaker to get the full effect, but it's easy to see the appeal of switching to your favorite TV show while your hands are full in the kitchen.