Expecto Pe-phone-us; Fantastic Beasts tie-in lets you cast spells with your Android

If you love the books of J.K. Rowling, chances are that you’ve dreamt of casting spells just like the ones featured in the insanely popular Harry Potter series. 

Well, thanks to Google and Warner Bros. Pictures, you can (sort of) finally do that! To celebrate the upcoming release of the Harry Potter spin-off film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the tech giant and film studio have teamed up to integrate Fantastic Beasts into a number of Google experiences.

The best experience? Using ‘OK Google’ to cast spells with your voice on Android phones – it’s like your phone is a magic wand! Until now, the closest thing to this would have to be the Galaxy Note 7’s ability to cast the ‘Incendio’ spell on itself.

Voice commands include casting a ‘Lumos’ spell to turn on your phone’s flashlight, saying ‘Nox’ to turn it off again, saying ‘Silencio’ to put it on silent, and more. 

Aside from this great integration, fans can also experience the wizarding world that J.K. Rowling created through Google Daydream View, and also visit New York in 1926 as portrayed in the new film via Google Street View.

You can find out more about this Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them promotion on Google’s blog about it.

Stephen Lambrechts
Senior Journalist, Phones and Entertainment

Stephen primarily covers phones and entertainment for TechRadar's Australian team, and has written professionally across the categories of tech, film, television and gaming in both print and online for over a decade. He's obsessed with smartphones, televisions, consoles and gaming PCs, and has a deep-seated desire to consume all forms of media at the highest quality possible. 


He's also likely to talk a person’s ear off at the mere mention of Android, cats, retro sneaker releases, travelling and physical media, such as vinyl and boutique Blu-ray releases. Right now, he's most excited about QD-OLED technology, The Batman and Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga.