Top 10 Voice Commands of 2020

Smart home-focused functions top the list of the most-frequent voice commands for 2020, according to new data from voice control provider Josh.ai.

The company is at the forefront of the voice control trend for the custom integration channel. Overall, voice control is becoming more prevalent than ever with a predicted 30% increase in 2020. According to tech research firm ABI Research, the global emphasis on working from home combined with advice to minimize coronavirus has cemented the benefits of smart home voice control for millions of consumers.

In 2019, 141 million voice control smart home device shipped worldwide and, despite the key China market being impacted during the first quarter of 2020, ABI predicted voice control device shipments will grow globally by close to 30% in 2020.

So what are the top voice commands among Josh.ai users for 2020? Here is the countdown, David Letterman-style.

10. Watch Netflix

Coming in at number 10 is the command, “Ok Josh, Watch Netflix”. With thousands of different TV commands, this suggests people find the most value in being able to turn the TV on to the right source, after which they grab a remote to browse content. Netflix was requested more than other streaming services like Hulu and Amazon Prime. This is also promising for integrators as it shows AV as a top use case for voice control.

9. What’s the Weather?

Unsurprisingly one of the top voice commands in 2020 is for the weather. Weather requests are helpful by voice as you can ask when multitasking, particularly in the bedroom or bathroom as you start your day,

8. I’m Home

This is a voice command scene that often triggers lights, shades, music, and more. This is a great scene installers can suggest to clients as it’s easy to say, easy to remember. and can be quite powerful.

7. Goodbye

More popular than “I’m Home,” the “Goodbye” scene is often spoken as a voice command to shut everything off in the house.

6. Close the Shades (closely followed by ‘Open the Shades’)

Shades control is the No. 6 most popular command in 2020, followed shortly by opening them. Motorized shades is a huge part of our industry and voice control makes it incredibly simple to adjust on the fly.

5. What Time Is It?

Also a very common one like the weather, voice control for the time remains a very popular command. 

4. Good Morning

The fourth most popular command in 2020 is “Good Morning,” a common scene for starting the day. The Good Morning scene can trigger lights. shades. music, TV, and more. With Josh this year conditional logic was also introduced so the Good Morning scene, for example, can do something different depending on the day of week, time of day, weather, or other factors. 

3. Turn Off the Lights (closely followed by ‘Turn On the Lights’ and honorable mention to just ‘Lights’)

Lights remain one of the most popular commands in the home, with “turn off” being more common than “turn on.” Josh also introduced the ability to simply say “lights” to toggle the state from off to on or on to off depending on state. 

2. Turn Off the TV (closely followed by ‘Turn On the TV’)

The #2 most popular request and the most popular device control was for TV power, with turning off happening more frequently than turning on, a theme we’ve seen with all device type control.

1. Goodnight

And the most popular voice command of 2020 is “Goodnight,” suggesting a total home shut down is the most common command spoken this year.