Try this Philips Hue trick to make getting to sleep and waking up easier

Wake-up lights can really help with getting up on dark mornings, and some models also have a night-time mode where the light dims gradually to help you get to sleep.

Now owners of Philips Hue and a Google Home device can get a gentler wake-up and gradual lights-out with the Google Assistant's new Gentle Sleep & Wake feature.

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The new feature lets you use your Google Home device to set a routine that gradually turns your Philips Hue smart lights on or off over the course of 30 minutes, to mimic sunrise or sunset.

To use it, simply say "Hey Google," followed by:

"Turn on gentle wake up" to have your daily morning alarms pair with gradual brightening.

"Wake up my lights" to start to gradually brighten your lights. You can also schedule the lights to come on gradually by saying "Hey Google, wake up my lights in the bedroom at 6:30am."

"Sleep my lights" to make the lights dim over a 30-minute period and then switch off. You can also say, "Hey Google, sleep the lights in the living room."

Sleep and wake can be programmed up to 24 hours in advance.

The Gentle Sleep & Wake feature is available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore and India in English only.

You can also instruct Google Home to play white noise ("Hey Google, play white noise") or to read your audiobook and stop reading at a particular time ("stop playing in 20 minutes").

Google has given its Assistant a few more new smarts for spring, which you can read about on the Google Home blog.