GoKawiilRita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR Google Home is adding prebuilt ‘suggested automations’ that users can implement with minimal effort.
Nothing is changing for custom automations. Suggested automations can also be customized before being applied.
Additionally, Onn’s newest Google Home-compatible cameras are getting new lighting controls.
If you’re into Google Home but you haven’t tried out the ecosystem’s automation features, Google’s got an update for you. The latest version of the Google Home app includes “ready-made automations tailored to real-life tasks” on the Automations tab, letting you set up new routines in just a few taps.
Google announced the new suggested automations in the release notes for Google Home changes rolling out now. If you haven’t set up any automations yet, suggested automations will appear at the top of the Automations tab in Google Home. Otherwise, you can find them below the list of your existing automations.
Examples shared by Google include prebuilt routines to do things like lowering smart speaker volume and playing relaxing music near bedtime, or flipping on security cameras and outdoor lighting around sunset. You can edit any of the suggested automations the Home app serves up before integrating them into your system.
The types of automations the Home app will recommend aren’t special; you could create the same ones manually without much work. But it’s a smart, low-friction way to introduce new users to the concept of Google Home automations.
Google’s also announced a couple of marginal improvements to cameras in Google Home, too. There’s a new button in the UI for Onn’s Outdoor Camera Plug-in and Floodlight Camera Hardwired to quickly turn on the cameras’ built-in lighting. Google also says that “older Nest cameras” will now be easier to set up.
All these changes are available in version 4.20 of the Google Home app. I’m not seeing that update as available on my own devices just yet, but Google says it’s rolling out starting today.
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