All articles tagged with #google home
Google's weekly Home update speeds up Gemini for Home with faster, more personalized responses for Ask Home, quicker timer and alarm handling, and a new thumbs-up/down feedback feature. The Google Home app gains one-tap temperature overrides for Nest thermostats, up-to-date schedule banners, broader iOS controls, and a QR-code-based device setup flow, all rolling out with app version 4.16.
Google updates Gemini for Home to version 3.1, enabling multi-step tasks in a single command, improving handling of recurring events and natural-language understanding, and adding public previews: Ask Home on Web and expanded notifications with quick-action controls.
Google Home's biggest update since 2025 adds Gemini 3.1 for more reliable, multi-step voice commands and expands the Ask Home chatbot to the web interface, while a major camera UI refresh introduces faster timeline navigation, new 10-second skip controls, improved event history, and smarter Familiar Faces notifications; paid subscribers gain extended footage and simpler AI descriptions, with some features still behind a paywall.
Google's Gemini for Google Home launches in early access with Continued Conversation, letting you ask follow-ups without repeating 'Hey Google' and enabling contextual actions (like adding recipe ingredients to a grocery list). It also expands multilingual support and improves side-talk detection to better distinguish follow-ups from other conversations; early access is limited to those who signed up.
Google continues rolling out major Gemini for Home upgrades, boosting music playback reliability and playlist recognition, speeding up date/time responses, reducing interruptions while you speak, and enhancing notes and lists management. Additional improvements include more reliable iOS camera connections, refined thermostat settings, and expanded parental controls across the Home app.
Google is rolling out updates to the Google Home app that add new automation starters and conditions, expand Nest x Yale Lock features to general availability (history, notifications, battery status, passcodes, and guest access), and upgrade Gemini for Home with improved device targeting, better device categorization, more reliable notes/reminders/calendars/timers/alarms responses, enhanced conversation flow, and a premium Live Search for camera streams.
Google's Home app update (v4.8+) fixes 'Video not available' playback when opening from notifications and adds more automation options, including lighting with specific colors/temperatures and new starters/conditions such as humidity, robot vacuum docking, and battery status.
Google confirms an ongoing outage that makes a range of Google Home–compatible devices appear offline in the Home app (bulbs, switches, outlets, etc.), even though some still respond to voice via Gemini; cameras and speakers may be less affected. The company is working on a fix but has not provided a timeline. Downdetector shows a spike in reports, and users have suggested temporary workarounds like VPN or removing/re-adding devices, though the exact cause remains unconfirmed.
IKEA showcased its new affordable smart home products at CES 2026, supporting Matter and working well in real-world tests, but currently face compatibility issues with Google Home, especially with generic devices like buttons. The lineup includes smart lights, plugs, sensors, and new Bluetooth speakers like the KALLSUP, which is budget-friendly and easy to connect, though sound quality is modest. These products are available in the US, with some launching in April, promising to enhance smart home integration despite current ecosystem limitations.
A Reddit user discovered a simple URL trick to force-enable Gemini on Google Home devices, potentially unlocking full Gemini features, though results are inconsistent and may require multiple attempts and patience.
A Reddit trick allows users to access and change to the new Gemini voices on Google Home by entering a specific URL, enabling immediate experience of the new voices without full Gemini assistant activation, though it does not upgrade the entire assistant to Gemini.
Google's rollout of its new Gemini voice assistant for Google Home devices is progressing slowly and with some issues, particularly in understanding queries and controlling smart home devices, despite Google's optimistic public statements. The new assistant aims to offer more natural conversations and better smart home control, but early user feedback indicates it is not yet fully reliable, and the full rollout is expected to take until next spring.
Gemini for Google Home introduces advanced AI features like event search and daily summaries, but struggles with accuracy and overconfidence, leading to occasional mislabeling and slow responses, highlighting the current limitations of AI in smart home applications.
Google is opening early access for Gemini, its new AI assistant for Google Home, which offers advanced contextual commands, music recognition, and image/video analysis, but users must sign up through Google Groups and the Google Home app to participate.
Google is gradually rolling out Gemini for Home, its renewed smart home effort, starting with app updates and new features in select countries, with voice assistant and camera features expanding globally through early 2026, and the Google Home Speaker expected in most countries by spring 2026.