Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
TL;DR Google is updating the Home app with new functionality, a modernized interface, and all the power of Gemini.
Nest camera control features prominently in the new Home, with faster, more responsive feeds.
Gemini is ready to accept even complicated device commands, all delivered in plain language.
Big things are happening with Google Home. Today, the company introduces new hardware, upgrades for existing devices, new subscription offerings, and a boatload of all things Gemini. At the core of this is a new Google Home app experience, and it is chock full of its own changes you won’t want to miss:
1. New and improved Google Home app
Home has become a bit sprawling in its reach over the years, but Google is now reining things in with a tight new interface designed to connect users with the most important information and controls all in one place.
That involves splitting the app into the Home, Activity, and Automations tabs. Activity you’re probably familiar with from Home already, detailing all the actions your devices have been taking. To that, Google now adds handy Home Brief summaries for Home Premium subscribers.
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Automations is another holdover, now upgraded with a carousel highlighting what’s set up to run next. We also get Google’s powerful new editor, letting you create routines that only run under certain conditions, or even one-off routines that you don’t want to repeat.
The Home tab offers an overview of all this, and the app’s new gesture-based interface allows you to swipe over to device controls or anything else you may want access to in seconds.
Besides the new layout, the Google Home app is also getting major performance improvements. Google claims the new app will now load over 70% faster on some Android devices. App crashes should also be reduced by nearly 80%, and battery consumption should also improve.
2. Gemini, Gemini, Gemini
By now, you’re probably well used to interacting with Gemini instead of Assistant on your phone, and that’s great, but how much of this has been just looking up searches for you or answering questions? With Gemini for Home, your interactions with your smart home devices are about to get a lot more powerful, all thanks to Gemini’s contextual awareness and ability to easily parse even complex natural language.
Maybe the most appreciable change there is that Google says users won’t feel required to phrase commands so deliberately — no more “Assistant-speak.” Instead, just tell Gemini what you want from your smart home, and it will endeavor to accommodate.
For example, you could say, “Hey Google, play the song from the climactic scene where they’re dancing at summer camp,” or ask, “Hey Google, play a recent podcast featuring Sundar Pichai,” without needing to recall exact titles. The best part is that Google is removing the hassle of remembering precise device names or commands for smart home controls. Instead of saying something like “Turn on the kitchen lights,” you can simply say, “Hey Google, I’m about to cook, turn on the lights,” and Gemini will understand that you mean the kitchen.
Google is also adding 10 new, more natural-sounding voices with realistic pacing and intonation. You’ll also get access to Gemini Live.
3. Improved camera experience
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
Google Home can do some seriously impressive things with the help of Gemini and your Nest cameras, and the entire camera experience within Home is receiving an overhaul. You can quickly skim through hours and hours of footage with responsive jog controls, or slow things down and watch as the action unfolds minute-by-minute. There are even double-tap-to-jump YouTube-like controls. And if you know exactly the moment you’re looking for, Home Premium can help you locate the clip with just a simple description.
Even your lock screen gets a taste of Home’s camera enhancements, with rich animated previews giving a quick look at what you’ve recorded before you tap through.
Part of this overhaul involves some newly optimized camera code, now much more robust, loading videos up to 30% faster, and reducing the occurrence of playback errors by 40%. The idea is to make everything feel smooth and instantaneous, even as you rely on Google’s cloud.
4. Ask Home everywhere
Across the app, you’ll find Ask Home up top, ready to respond quickly to your requests. While advanced functionality like pulling together complex automations or accessing specific camera clips will require Home Premium, even free accounts can use Ask Home to operate smart home hardware directly. And if you’re not using voice input, Ask Home will quickly pull up all associated automations when it detects you’ve begun typing in the name of one of your devices.
5. Nest users are covered
Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
This one has been slowly happening over a period of years, but at this point, if there’s something you used to do in the Nest app, you can probably get it done in Home. Some of those critical upgrades include extended Nest Thermostat support, Next x Yale code management, and Nest Protect emergency alerts. It’s a lot, but Google really needed to step up its smart home ambitions right about now, especially with Amazon launching its own new hardware this week with a heavy Alexa Plus AI push. Both ecosystems have their strengths and weaknesses, and we’re looking forward to spending more time with both of them and seeing who’s really going to be king of this new AI-everywhere phase of smart home evolution.
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