Google Home update improves automation triggers & actions, including robot vacuums

The Google Home app is expanding what you can do with automations, with a new update adding support for more automation triggers and actions including robot vacuums.

Rolling out now to the Android and iOS Google Home apps, automations are getting more starters (triggers) as well as additional conditions and actions. These additional factors expand what automations in the Google Home app are capable of.

Google Home chief Anish Kattukaran points out a few uses for this in a post:

• Media Playback: “If TV is playing, dim lights 50%”
• Appliances: “Announce when the washer is done”
• Security: “At 10 PM, arm the system”

The new starters include setting the brightness on certain device types, while conditions in an automation can now include things such as the state of a smart appliance or the state of media playback on a speaker or TV.

Meanwhile, many will likely find that expanded actions are even more useful.

Google Home now supports actions such as specifically turning on or off certain devices that weren’t previously supported, arming security systems, starting or stopping appliances, and stopping lighting effects on connected bulbs. The most notable here is with robot vacuums, as the Home app can now trigger a robot vacuum to start, stop, or pause a robot vaccum, or even send it back to the dock.

Google details the new starters, conditions, and actions on its Home app changelog:

Starters/Conditions:

• Control volume on your media device: e.g. “When the volume is 50…”
• Control playback on your media device (playing, not playing, paused, buffering): e.g. “When the speaker is paused…” or “If the TV is playing…”
• Set the brightness to a specific level: e.g. “When the brightness is above 80%”
• Check the state of smart appliances* (stopped, running, paused, error): e.g. “When the washer is running…” or “If there is an error…”

Actions:

• Turn specific device on or off: e.g. “…turn off the coffee machine”
• Arm a security system ( no disarm yet): e.g. “…arm the security system”
• Open and close a blind: e.g. “…open the living room blinds”
• Set robot vacuum to pause, resume, or dock: e.g. “…pause the vacuum” or “…dock the vacuum”
• Start, stop, resume, or pause smart appliances*: e.g. “…start the coffee machine ”, “…stop the washer” or “…pause the dryer”
• Control light effects on smart bulbs (stop light only): e.g. “…stop the light effect”

*Supported on select devices such as washers, dryers, and coffee machines. This is currently unsupported on smart ovens, robot vacuums, and robot mops.

We are continuing to expand support for home automation capabilities so make sure to check back for updates to our release notes and Supported automation starters, conditions & actions.

These updates are rolling out now via Google Home 4.6.55.1 on Android, as pictured below.

Notably, smart buttons such as the ones IKEA has released in recent weeks are still not supported in this update.

More on Google Home:

• Hands-on: IKEA’s simple smart home tech rocks, but Google Home holds it back [Gallery]
• Gemini for Home camera updates improve Familiar Face, animal detection, more
• Google brings Gemini for Home to Canada in its first international expansion

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