Google Home

In late August, Google rolled out a pair of new features for Assistant Routines. Google’s Home and Away Routines for smart home devices now has a new arrive/leave location trigger.

The ability to “Test device speed” was one of the last remaining features of the old Google Wifi app that had yet to be migrated to Google Home with June’s Wi-Fi redesign. An update today introduces that check, and reveals work on ISP access to your Google/Nest Wifi router.

Google’s latest home security cameras ditch the aging Nest app and focus solely on the Google Home app, but what about users with older cameras too? Google has confirmed that the Home app will start showing Nest notifications for all cameras… at some point.

With the launch of the Nest Cam line and Doorbell, Google is requiring the Home app and bringing over a slew of legacy features from the old companion client. Google Home 2.42 adds support for the new security cameras, and reveals works on two other efforts.

Like with the $129 Nest Thermostat that launched last year, the Google Home app is needed to control the new Nest Doorbell and Cam lineup. The companion client will be updated with several camera features in the process.

Back in November, device settings for the Nest Hub and Hub Max in the Google Home app were updated with a cleaner design and improved organization. The Google Home settings revamp is now coming to various Nest speakers and Chromecast streamers.

After an update last month focused on Wi-Fi management, the latest version of the Google Home app greatly improves the Nest Hello experience with more controls.

In addition to a new Nest/Google Wifi update, the Google Home app is getting the last few remaining Wifi-related features from the old client that’s set to be deprecated.

For some users, Assistant has a tendency to pick up “Hey Google” and answer on the wrong Smart Display/speaker. Google is now soliciting feedback when the wrong Home activates with a “Which device did you expect to respond?” notification.

With Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP), Google, Apple, Amazon, and many other companies two years ago set out to create a new standard for smart home devices. With the first products set for year’s end, this initiative is now named “Matter” with a mark to certify products.

If you’re an owner of a Nest Thermostat, you might be encountering a frustrating bug this week. It appears that some Nest Thermostat owners are losing access of their devices through the Google Home app due to an account migration issue.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.