Google Nest Hub

Name your Nest Hub food timers, including for turkeys, for some useful whimsy

Abner Li | Nov 23 2020 - 9:09 am PT

As Thanksgiving nears, elaborate meal preparations are getting underway, and Google is adding some whimsy to turkey and food timers on the Nest Hub, as well as other Assistant Smart Displays.

You’ve long been able to name your timers on Google Assistant devices. Besides easier management, making such an assignment now themes the timer screen with a visual of the food in question.

For example, “Hey Google, set a turkey timer for 3 hours” results in a cooked, plated bird appearing front and center just underneath the countdown on your Nest Hub Max. It does partially obscure the circular indicator, while there is a gobble sound after it’s set.

If you ask for coffee or tea, a more generic kettle appears. Other examples include pizza, pasta, and chicken, which is different from the turkey. At the end of each named food timer, a shower of food accompanied by a jingle envelops your screen for one last final touch of delight before one presumably gets to eat the meal in question.

Overall, food timers with this change become much more glanceable — the name is currently quite small — on the Nest Hub and other Smart Displays.

This joins a turkey translator on Google.com when you search “Happy Thanksgiving.”