Version 2.37 of the Google Home app is rolling out today with a small tweak that makes users more likely to use the Nest Wifi’s notification capabilities, while faster Smart Display and speaker setup is also coming.
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Last year, Google introduced presence sensing to power Home & Away Routines. The Google Home app is now using location for an “only ring when home” feature so that Smart Displays and speakers don’t sound for incoming calls when you’re out of the house and cannot answer.
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With the last major overhaul in 2019, Google simplified the Home app to have two primary screens from four. Google Home now has settings to customize the “Feed” tab to “choose the types of events” that can appear.
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As it stands today, Google has two distinct apps for managing your Google Wifi and Nest Wifi networks, with Google Wifi and Google Home. Starting next month, the older Google Wifi app is shutting down in favor of the all-in-one Google Home.
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One way Google has been working to improve the smart home experience is with seamless device setup. The Google Home app recommends users to connect nearby devices, though an error today sees some users getting promoted to “Connect SimpliSafe.”
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At the start of the year, the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max started playing a new sound following a successful Casting connection, and that updated chime is now appearing on Google Home and Nest speakers.
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Version 2.35 of the Google Home app is rolling out on Android and iOS with some user-facing tweaks. The Home companion client today also reveals the backside of a new Google Nest device, which could be a next-generation Hello doorbell.
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Besides music and relaxing sounds, Google’s Assistant devices are frequently used for podcasts. However, a bug has emerged in the past few days that sees Google Home and Nest speakers play the wrong podcast.
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The latest update to Google’s Home companion app is rolling out on Android and iOS this morning. Besides Home 2.34 adding support for the 2nd-gen Nest Hub, the Google/Nest Wifi experience gets a big update with network usage graphs.
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The Google Home app is a central tool for controlling any device that works with Assistant, but it’s only available on smartphones. A fake Chrome extension that promised to bring “Google Home app for PC” to life fooled thousands of users, and it begs the question of why Google hasn’t actually released this officially.
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One of the biggest bonuses with the Spotify mobile app has always been the ability to cast audio from a “free” account to your Google Assistant-powered speakers and Smart Displays. A recent, quietly made change means that this privilege is now only reserved for Premium account holders.
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An apparent “set up” issue with the Google Assistant today prevents users from controlling smart home devices with their voice.
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After we first spotted the functionality in development back in September of last year, Google looks to be preparing a rollout of “access” roles for household members in the Google Home app.
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Assistant is one of Google’s most important products as voice cements itself as a key way to interact with technology. The personal assistant spans across all of the company’s form factors and plays an outsized role in smart homes. As the new year gets under way, let’s recap all the major features that Google Assistant and Google Home picked up in 2020.
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Assistant Routines have recently seen a flurry of developments from Android homescreen shortcuts to a new editing UI, and Google is now rolling out sunset/sunrise triggers for some users.
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Back in September, the Home app lost the ability to trigger Assistant Routines. Google Home 2.31 today returns that capability, while there’s a big revamp to media controls.
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The Google Home app in recent months has seen a flurry of new features from a dark theme to full Wifi controls and Home/Away Routines just last week. Google is now testing a very welcome redesign of Nest Hub, Home, and other device settings.
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The latest version of the Google Home app is rolling out with support for the new Nest Thermostat. Available now on iOS and making its way to Android, it suggests the latest smart home device from Made by Google is coming sooner than later.
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Back in July, Google said it was bringing over a key Nest feature to Assistant with “presence sensing.” After detailing late last month, the Home & Away Routines are now rolling out to the Google Home app.
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One of the key aspects of the new Nest Thermostat is full integration with the Google Home app. It reflects how the company’s smart devices are moving towards one app, with that experience fully detailed today.
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Over the past four years, Google has expanded its smart speaker lineup quite a bit. This week, the new Nest Audio is hitting doorsteps, but where does it fall in the lineup? Here’s how Nest Audio compares to Home Max, Nest Mini, Google Home, and everything else.
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In addition to announcing a revamped Wifi router today, Google is rolling out an update to existing units and Nest devices. The most prominent feature is a notification when new devices join your network.
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After teasing earlier this year, Google has fully detailed how Home & Away Routines work. That said, the feature does not appear to be rolled out yet today.
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Recent versions of the Home companion client have added a slew of new features. A server-side update now appears to remove the interface for triggering Assistant Routines from the Google Home app.
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